Top ways to Improve Sales Techniques

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Like any self-improvement endeavor, working on growing your sales skills is an ongoing journey.

Having spent years being both a salesman and a sales manager, I've been fortunate to have worked with many talented, hard working people. Recognizing both good habits and shortcomings has been an invaluable learning experience.

Even if your sales team is delivering great results, it's still important to look for opportunities to coach and build on. None of us is perfect; we all have shortcomings and foibles, Here are five simple tips

Five Simple Steps to Better Sales

1. 1

Talk less; listen more.
During the average customer interaction, most salespeople talk 80 percent or more of the time and let the prospect speak little. Usually salespeople start out with a long sales pitch about their own favorite products or current specials. That's a mistake, because the salesperson may not have the same favorite product as the customer, and the customer may not be interested in current specials. The first step to good salesmanship is to get the customer talking about what they want, when they need it and (most importantly) why they want it. This gets the customer involved and active in the sales practice and gives the salesperson important information for developing an effective pitch.

1. 2

Ask open-ended questions.
The trick to getting the customer to tell you more is, of course, to ask good questions. This is best accomplished with open-ended questions. By this we mean questions that cannot be answered with a "Yes" or "No." Open-ended questions not only generate useful information, but they also help the customer think his way through what he really wants to buy. "Can I help you today?" is an overused question in the retail world, for instance, and rarely generates any more information than, "No, I'm just looking." Try "Which of our products are you looking at today?" instead. This begins a conversation that provides a salesperson with important information.

1. 3

Learn the "why."
Why would the customer consider giving you her money? It's not just because she might want to buy one of your products or services. It's because that product or service will bring her something she wants. For instance, does she want a new car primarily to look stylish, to save money on gas or to carry the kids and their soccer gear? Does he want a new MP3 player to download music or to watch movies? These answers tell you how to structure your final sales pitch, but you can only obtain this kind of information by asking your prospect, "Why?"

1. 4

Create a sales pitch based on what he's told you.
After you've spent a bit of time asking questions, and after you've spent a bit more time listening intently to the answers, only then are you ready to deliver the sales pitch. Using information you've obtained from the customer to craft a personalized pitch is key to helping your customer believe you care about her needs and are looking out for her best interests. At this point, you're not so much a salesperson as you are a consultative partner, educating your customer and helping him come to the right decision. The pitch might start along the lines of, "So you say you're looking for a budget computer, suitable for kids to use, with Internet access but without a lot of bells and whistles you don't need to pay for. Am I understanding you fully? Great, then may I recommend...."

1. 5

Be proud of what you're selling.
By this point, you should have created a targeted message for your customer and shown her how a certain solution will meet all her needs. If you've done this properly, there's no need to look or sound awkward, uncertain or apologetic, even if your solution is a bit on the expensive side. You'll never see a salesperson for a high-end sports car apologize for its price, and you'll never see a high-end coffee shop blush to sell you a $7 cup of coffee. Why not? Because they truly believe their product is a good value for the price and the only way a customer can satisfy a certain need. Be confident about your product.

 

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Top Strategies and Techniques of Social Network Marketing

wholesale,buyer,seller Global B2B buy sell website: www.bytrade.com

 

How to Find Success Using Social Network Marketing.

Social network marketing has become quite the trend amongst marketers looking to promote their businesses online. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have made it easy for eager entrepreneurs to hop on the internet and network with people from around the world. Terms like tweeting, sharing, and voting have created quite the buzz amongst those who want to hop aboard the viral marketing trend.

 

Different social networking marketing methods are as follows.

1. Blogging: When you start Blogging or posting your data about any product, you can see less response from clients. Later it will become big business via blog. Websites and blogs are most powerful tools for social network marketing when matched with other networking tools. Blog is an amazing tool which provides many other facilities in addition to just marketing your business. It also helps you to communicate with other clients in case if you have any problems.

2. Personal website or blog: It is important to have private website if you are a freelancer. Your website will help your clients to know about you and it will make them clear that you are a serious freelance marketer and help to make huge revenue via online marketing.

3. Article selling: It is also best and cheap internet marketing method. It is a mode of advertising our trade just by writing articles and attracting endless number of users across world. We usually sell our articles to different article database websites and article directories. Today it provided free business to many advertisers and publishers and they are really benefited through their articles.

4. Email sending: Electronic mail sending is the best way to marketing. Collect list of email addresses through portfolio websites and email about your business to all internet users. Your Email should be attractive in such a way that your recipient will be impressed to get back to you.

5. Use social networking websites: Social networking websites like Twitter, face book can be used to promote your sales. These provide best platform for all who are thinking of online marketing.

6. Video promotion: Use several video distribution websites for your marketing. These websites uploads your service to the whole world. All that you need to do is film a video about marketing and send it to video uploading sites like You Tube. It seems it is the easiest way of marketing than any other modes since many people will be interested in view videos rather than word form of advertisement.

7. Press Release or media release: It attracts several public clients and increases relationship among them.

8. Search Engine Optimization: It improves the traffic to your website by providing quality web content. It uses RSS feeds and many SEO techniques.

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Business etiquette in international trade

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Today, business world is becoming increasingly smaller and globalization brings people closer. Yet, cultural diversity is more present than ever.

These differences reach into nearly every aspect of daily life, including the ways that the two groups engage in business practices and etiquette.

East vs. West: Business hierarchy
Those with a Western-style cultural background are often raised, from the time they are small, to think that everyone is essentially the same in ways that matter, and that we are not to maximise or even acknowledge differences. This might translate into a business context where everyone that is higher in the corporate structure minimises that fact, and tries to make his subordinates feel more like equals - at least on the surface. To this end he might do things like invite them to call him by his first name.

The cultures of Japan, China and India are examples of those that retain ancient social hierarchies from such places as religion or social castes. It is very important to them that they all be treated according to their position in this agreed-upon hierarchy, and for a Western business person to not do so, will be an act of dishonor.

In Japan, for instance, it is important to defer to and first address the person of most status in the room. In India, it is important to not imply that someone of middle or high social rank perform menial tasks. In an Australian business meeting, for example, if a desk needed to be moved by two people in a meeting, it wouldn't matter if one of them were the CEO, he would probably be happy to do it. But implying that an Indian businessman should do something of this type, would be to insinuate inferior or menial status.

East vs. West: Ritual
The Western preference has become, over the past few centuries, one of focusing on things that "really matter". If something doesn't have intrinsic or overwhelming value or significance, then it should be dispensed with. Clothing, language, music, and food have all become simplified and oriented toward practicality and convenience, and many of the traditional and ritualistic aspects of our possessions and practices are eliminated, if not judged to be of immediate or material value.

The Eastern philosophy of ritual (one thing typically judged to be recently less important in the West) is quite the opposite. There is still the retained sense of meaning in many of the traditional ritualised behaviours, such as engaging in proper forms of address, or ceremonial meals. Even in many aspects of business (where their Western equivalents might be more used to just 'getting down to business') meaning and value is still derived from the ceremonial aspects.

One particular arena where this value exhibits itself in the business world is in the exchange of business cards. Australian businessmen might just give each other business cards for practicality's sake, and each in turn will just stuff them casually in his pockets. This would be an insult to a businessman in Japan or India. There, cards of impeccable quality are handed to each other ceremoniously with a gracious bow, examined carefully and deliberately handled. Not to do so is insulting, so this and other areas involving rituals that Western businessmen might consider trivial formalities, are ones that should be investigated prior to engaging in business ventures.

East vs. West: Communication etiquette
Generally stated, the difference between these two interaction styles is a concentration on 'pure' communication and practicality on the one hand, and a value in interaction and relationships on the other. Western communicators have taken quite a 'just the facts' approach to communicating. This often makes them hurry through meetings, brush over introductions and politeness rules, and (to their Eastern counterparts) sometimes appear brusque and rude.

On the other hand, Eastern ways of doing things often focus on how the parties are relating, rather than just the information they are exchanging. It is quite common for them to avoid business with those they don't personally like or trust, even if it doesn't make business sense for them to do so. During business meetings and other interactions, things can quickly get derailed if the communications are unpleasant, or any unintended messages are sent that make various parties not like or trust each other.

Often Western rules of communication value saying something - just making noise or hemming and hawing if necessary. None of them want to admit it if they just need to think about something, for example. Eastern business people more often take their time and don't just say things to hear themselves talk.

For instance, an American businessman in Japan might misinterpret the silence of his interaction partner after a question or a statement, because those in America would make sure to say 'Uh, right, well...' or similar fillers even if they had nothing much to say. In Japan, for instance, if they need to think about something, they just think about it and don't set their mouths on auto-pilot in the meantime.

There are other consequences of valuing the quality of the interaction rather than just the information exchanged. In Japan and India direct refusals or denials are avoided because it creates a negative atmosphere in the interaction. Arguments don't get heated or rude, to press points or play devil's advocate, while in America the parties might actually enjoy that type of interaction.

Above all, there isn't the sense in the East, like there is in the West, that any type of interaction can be justified if it furthers the ability of the parties involved to make a profitable deal. Care should therefore be taken to make sure that in addition to the bottom line, there is attention to the form of discourse.

Conclusion
Western businessmen have gained a bit of a reputation for reducing business exchanges to cold, quick and calculated transactions that concentrate on the endgame profit. As with every cultural approach, it is easy for them to underestimate the possibility of a different way of looking at things. It is also possible that those of the Eastern mindset, who take comfort in tradition, politeness and personal interaction, to assume that Western business dealings should be mistrusted because they are all about selfishness and profit for profit's sake.

These differences, however, are arbitrary and culturally specific. Understanding and deference to the other's comfort in the exchange can go a long way towards ensuring mutually profitable and enjoyable business ventures between the two sides of the world.

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Different forms of international strategic alliances

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INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

Cooperation between international firms can take many forms, such as licensing of proprietary
technology, sharing of production facilities, co-funding of research projects and marketing of each
other’s products using existing distribution networks.
These forms of cooperation are known collectively as
strategic alliances – business arrangements
where two or more firms choose to cooperate for their mutual benefit

Types of strategic alliances

Various terms have been used to describe forms of strategic partnering. These include ‘international coalitions’ (Porter and Fuller, 1986), ‘strategic networks’ (Jarillo, 1988) and, most commonly, ‘strategic alliances’. Definitions are equally varied. An alliance may be seen as the ‘joining of forces and resources, for a specified or indefinite period, to achieve a common objective’.

There are seven general areas in which profit can be made from building alliances.

According to Yoshino and Ranganthe Internationalisation Strategies

Stages of Alliance Formation

A typical strategic alliance formation process involves these steps:

• Strategy Development: Strategy development involves studying the alliance’s feasibility, objectives and rationale, focusing on the major issues and challenges and development of resource strategies for production, technology, and people. It requires aligning alliance objectives with the overall corporate strategy.


• Partner Assessment: Partner assessment involves analyzing a potential partner’s strengths and weaknesses, creating strategies for accommodating all partners’ management styles, preparing appropriate partner selection criteria, understanding a partner’s motives for joining the alliance and addressing resource capability gaps that may exist for a partner.


• Contract Negotiation: Contract negotiations involves determining whether all parties have realistic objectives, forming high calibre negotiating teams, defining each partner’s contributions and rewards as well as protect any proprietary information, addressing termination clauses, penalties for poor performance, and highlighting the degree to which arbitration procedures are clearly stated and understood.


• Alliance Operation: Alliance operations involves addressing senior management’s commitment, finding the calibre of resources devoted to the alliance, linking of budgets and resources with strategic priorities, measuring and rewarding alliance performance, and assessing the performance and results of the alliance.


• Alliance Termination: Alliance termination involves winding down the alliance, for instance when its objectives have been met or cannot be met, or when a partner adjusts priorities or re-allocates resources elsewhere.

The advantages of strategic alliance includes:

1. Allowing each partner to concentrate on activities that best match their capabilities.


2. Learning from partners & developing competences that may be more widely exploited elsewhere


3. Adequency a suitability of the resources & competencies of an organization for it to survive.

There are four types of strategic alliances: joint venture, equity strategic alliance, non-equity strategic alliance, and global strategic alliances.

• Joint venture is a strategic alliance in which two or more firms create a legally independent company to share some of their resources and capabilities to develop a competitive advantage.


• Equity strategic alliance is an alliance in which two or more firms own different percentages of the company they have formed by combining some of their resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage.


• Nonequity strategic alliance is an alliance in which two or more firms develop a contractual-relationship to share some of their unique resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage.


• Global Strategic Alliances working partnerships between companies (often more than 2) across national boundaries and increasingly across industries. Sometimes formed between company and a foreign government, or among companies and governments

  B2B ,trade ,buy and sell

Jobs You Can Do Everywhere

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by Cindy Perman

It's that time of year again, a time for fir trees, twinkling lights -- and cursing yourself for not living in a warmer climate. So why not consider getting a job that you can do from the beach?

Not only are there a ton of tourism-related jobs you can do from the beach, but thanks to modern technology, anyone with a laptop and wireless Internet access can set up shop on the beach.

And don't underestimate the power a beautiful, relaxing setting can have on your creativity and productivity. German composer Richard Wagner apparently wrote his music in a villa overlooking Italy's Tyrrhenian Sea, Chinese sages are said to have written their poetry on island pavilions and some of the great tech minds of our time created their innovations in California's Bay Area, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi points out in his book, "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention

Feeling inspired? Check out these 12 Jobs You Can Do From the Beach:

Real Estate Agent

Real estate can be done from absolutely anywhere, so why do it in a cold, windy city when you could do it wearing flip-flips and sunglasses?

Beach destinations are some of the most expensive real-estate markets in the world, from Malibu to the French Riviera. People will always want to buy real estate in these sun-drenched markets, so the work would be steady, and there's a good chance you'll boost your salary in the process.

On average, real-estate agents make $30,000 to $60,000, but depending on the market, you can make $100,000 or more, according to PayScale.com.

At the beach: Of course you'll need to get licensed in that area, and you'll need to get up from your beach chair to show properties, but your cold calls and online listings could all be managed using a cell phone and laptop.

Entrepreneur

Starting your own business requires a lot of creativity and inspiration, and what better place to get that than the beach?

Rob McGovern, the founder of CareerBuilder.com, said he came up with the idea for the company while on vacation at Bethany Beach in Delaware.

"I wrote the business plan for that company sitting on the beach -- that's when the idea came to me," he said. "I've always thought my calling was to change the world -- I just felt like I'd better go where I can make up the rules, then I can change the world!" he said. McGovern grew CareerBuilder into a $150 million company with 400 employees and is now on to his next venture, Jobfox.com.

At the beach: The sun and crashing waves are a great way to clear and relax your mind, and get the creative juices flowing. If you have a laptop and a phone, you can do everything from research to calling consultants, writing out your business plan and figuring out a budget. Take the flip flops off for business meetings, though, OK?

Trader

Floor traders are a dying breed -- Gone are the days where you had to be on the floor or in the pits to execute a trade. Now, all you need is a laptop and an online-trading account.

Whether you're dealing with your own money or other people's money, trading is a high-stress job. There's a lot at stake and you can lose it all in a heartbeat. Taking this high-wire act to a relaxing beach is a good way to dial it down and go easy on your heart.

Traders typically make $50,000 to $90,000, according to PayScale.com, but once you get going, it's not hard to make six figures or more.

At the beach: All you really need is your laptop. You can check company earnings statements and read up on the latest news about the company or fund -- everything you'll need to determine if it's a solid investment. Then, with your trading account, you can execute the trade and track its performance. When it comes right now to it, the only times you'd have to get up from your chair would be to get another drink or use the restroom!

Corporate Event or Wedding Planner

Who wouldn't jump at the chance to go to a corporate conference in the Caribbean or honeymoon in Honolulu? Well, guess what? There have to be people on the other side, physically in those destinations, to plan the event, from mini-bagel platters to AV systems.

Of course, this job isn't without its stresses -- from bridezillas to cranky corporate types and juggling all the moving parts, it's a lot to manage. Not to mention, couples that elope last minute and expect you to make their big day special with just a few hours' notice. The real perks are that you're not trapped in a cubicle all day and at the end of the day, you can wash all that stress away with dinner on the beach.

Event planners typically make $30,000 to $50,000, according to PayScale.com.

At the beach: You'll need an office, rather than a beach chair, as your home base for this job -- mainly to store files and product samples as well as to take meetings. But who says you can't have an office with a view of the beach? And stepping out for lunch just got a whole lot more interesting!

Vacation Home Caretaker

Vacation homes are great but the only problem is that while you may only be there a few times a year, the grass keeps growing the rest of the time. The roof still leaks, the washing machine goes on the fritz and the pool gets dirty.

Enter vacation home caretakers, an entire industry of people that take care of vacation homes while the owners are away. This sounds like an easy stay in paradise for people who otherwise couldn't afford such a luxurious home. But this job requires mad skills: Caretakers need to literally take care of everything from routine maintenance to emergencies.

Home CareTaker in Palm Coast, Florida, for example, does whatever you need them to do, including grocery shopping, stocking the liquor cabinet, watering the plants, picking up fresh flowers, taking out the trash, checking mail, overseeing repairs, cleaning the house and pool, washing your car -- even picking you up and dropping you off at the airport.

[America's Worst Cities For Getting a Job]

The salary for vacation-home caretakers varies depending on the services provided. It can be a modest per-month fee to just keep an eye on the place, a per-visit fee or an hourly fee for things like personal shopping and cleaning.

At the beach: This one isn't so much a job you do from the beach as a job you do from a luxurious beach HOUSE. Hey, if you're going to have to clean, shop and repair, might as well do it in style!

Data-Entry Clerk

Data-entry clerks are always going to be in demand: Companies will always need people to input text and data, whether it's medical records or invoices. The only requirements are that you be a fast and accurate typist. Since it's really just you and the computer, many companies hire data-entry clerks to work from home. So, why not make your home/office at the beach?

The average salary is $10 to $13 per hour, according to PayScale.com, with some of the highest hourly rates in San Jose, Calif., Long Beach, Calif., and Miami.

At the beach: This may be one of those jobs that's better in an office overlooking the beach, since you may have a pile of papers or other material to be cross-referencing -- stuff you don't want blowing away!

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Jobless claims, factory data buoy recovery hopes

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By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Upbeat U.S. data on the jobs market and manufacturing sector Thursday buttressed the view the economy gained momentum as the year ended, setting the stage for a stronger performance in 2011.

New applications for unemployment benefits dropped 34,000 last week to 388,000, the lowest level since July 2008, while factory activity in the Midwest expanded in December at its fastest pace in more than 22 years.

Further brightening the picture, pending sales of previously owned homes rose more than expected in November.

The data was the latest in a series, ranging from retail sales to trade, to suggest the recovery has picked up steam.

"The economy is heading into 2011 with some pretty good momentum and some pretty good wind behind its sails right now," said Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut.

The reports had a minimal impact on U.S. financial markets, where volumes were light and investors moved to the sidelines as the year wound down.

Prices for U.S. government debt were mostly marginally down, while the dollar rebounded from a seven-week low against the yen. U.S. stock indexes were flat to slightly lower.

Economists, who had expected initial claims for jobless benefits to dip only to 415,000, said the Christmas holiday-shortened week may have led to data distortions.

However, analysts said that did not change the view that the labor market was gaining strength. A four-week average of new claims -- a better measure of underlying trends -- also touched its lowest level since July 2008.

"There's no denying that the economy is improving," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York.

BULLISH SIGNAL FROM MANUFACTURING

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago's business barometer for the Midwest provided an even more bullish signal.

It jumped to 68.6, the highest since July 1988, from 62.5 in November. Economists had expected it to dip. Any reading above 50 indicates the region's economy is expanding.

The gauge, which closely correlates to the Institute for Supply Management's report on national manufacturing due on Monday, mirrored strong gains in measures of factory activity in other regional surveys reported last week.

In a third report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index, which is based on signed contracts to buy previously owned houses, rose 3.5 percent last month to 92.2. It was the second straight month of gains and beat market expectations for a 2 percent increase.

Analysts have forecast economic growth at an annual pace of between 3 percent and 3.5 percent in the current quarter after a 2.6 percent expansion in the third quarter, and there is optimism that this would boost hiring.

An employment gauge in the Chicago factory report rose to 60.2 -- the highest level in more than five years -- from 56.3 in November.

That jump and the steady decline in jobless claims in recent weeks suggests the pace of job creation picked up this month after a dismal November in which employers added only 39,000 workers to their payrolls.

The December employment data is due on January 7, and a preliminary Reuters survey shows economists expect nonfarm payrolls increased 126,000.

However, that is still not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate, which is expected to edge down to 9.7 percent from 9.8 percent in November.

"The downward trend in initial jobless claims has become more pronounced after stalling over the summer and should be an indication that hiring is accelerating," said Ellen Beeson Zentner, a senior U.S. economist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.

"However, the average level of claims suggests job creation of no more than 150,000 a month. To accelerate beyond that we've got to see the four-week average move convincingly below 400,000."

The report on jobless claims showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid rose 57,000 to 4.13 million in the week ended December 18. This data covered the survey week for the government survey from which the unemployment rate is derived.

The jobless rate is likely to remain elevated as an improving labor market lures discouraged job seekers back into the labor force.

 

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Business of 2010 and 2011 in One Word: 'Uncertainty,' 'Hope,' 'Bad,' 'Better'

supply, factory ,import Global B2B buy sell website: www.bytrade.com

 

By Kate Rogers

As the year winds down, small business owners across the country can look forward to a fresh start in 2011. The recession that has had their livelihood in a chokehold for nearly three years is slowly starting to turn around, and economists are predicting that layoffs, pay cuts and shrinking profits may soon be a thing of the past, as business owners learn to trust the market once again.

Raymond Keating, chief economist at the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council in Oakton, Va., said the small business owner’s experience in 2010 could be summed up in one word – uncertainty.

Keating is the author of the recently released “Small Business Survival Index 2010,” which ranks states by measuring their costs and burdens of government on small businesses, as well as policies that either enable or deter growth. The factors included in the index are: taxes, regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, healthcare policies and energy costs, among others. The council also releases a Health Care Policy Cost Index, Business Tax Index and Energy Cost Index throughout the year, all of which spin off of the Survival Index.

“Small business owners were uncertain about the economy, public policy, before November 2, they were uncertain on the political front,” he said. “It was a lot of sitting on the sidelines for them.”

The years-long slump did not have a snap back of economic growth and job creation as seen in other historic recessions, Keating said. Small business owners also faced adversity in securing credit and loans throughout the year.

“They haven’t been looking for money to expand and build. Or, if they have been looking to gain access to credit and they are doing well in this tough climate, they had to jump through more hoops,” he said. “Those who needed it weren’t able to gain access, and banks just wouldn’t give it.”

Limited access to loans stunted company growth, he said, and most job creation comes from small and medium size firms.

The year to come, however, looks more optimistic for Keating, who summed up his prediction with the word “hope.” The passing of a bill last month to limit the extended cuts to dual-income households earning below $250,000 annually is good news for small business owners.

“It’s only a two-year extension, but it’s much better than staring at a huge tax increase,” Keating said. “It would be a huge increase for the business community if the cuts don’t pass. I assume this will go through now, and even if it doesn’t, the new congress will most likely pass it anyway. We will get a break from the constant anti-business, anti-investor rhetoric and policies we have seen over the past two years.”

Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business based in Nashville, Tenn., said 2010 was “bad” for small businesses, and 2011 will simply be “better.” The NFIB released its latest issue of “Small Business Economic Trends” last week, reporting that the Small Business Optimism Index rose from 91.7 to 93.2.

“The fundamentals are in place in 2011 for economic growth,” Dunkelberg said. “The census is up, and that population growth is something that Western Europe and Japan don’t have. This will contribute to new job creation.”

From there, he said spending and sales will pick up. This is an important prediction for small business owners, as retail has been a top concern for the past two years.

“With better policy coming out of Washington, there will be more spending from customers, and it will add to the optimism of owners.”

 selling,  purchase ,marketplace

How to balance the family budget when starting a new business

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By Gary Foreman

Dear New Frugal You,
Something we will soon be facing in our family is how to manage money when our monthly income changes each month. My husband is anticipating starting his own business after the first of the year. Each month, the amount he brings in will be very different. How do we budget and how do we plan ahead? -- Kari 

Dear Kari,
You're right to plan ahead. Starting a new business can create financial strains for the family budget. Prior planning can help everyone to know what to expect and can put them in the best position to adjust as conditions change.

The simplest way to adjust the family budget to fluctuating income is to estimate what Hubby will earn in a bad month. Then try to cut your monthly expenses to match. That will likely mean some hardship for the family. Nonessential expenses will need to be eliminated.

This strategy will accomplish two things for your family. First, you won't have months where your expenses are too high for your income. By cutting expenses to match minimum income levels, you're pretty much assuring yourself that you'll have money to pay the bills each month. No surprises. No begging landlords -- or anyone else -- for a little more time to pay.

The second benefit is that you can use the better income months -- ones in which your income exceeds your expectations -- to your advantage. You can use that extra money to cover expenses that you've been delaying or you can tuck it away, in case there are many more hard months. Remember that most new businesses take a few years to become a steady income source.

You can also adjust your family's budget to a low, but not worst-case level. Use the months that have income above your level to help cover expenses in those months where income falls below your budgeted amount.

But I can't help but think that you may be asking the wrong question. Most new businesses die because of a lack of cash -- even ones that are profitable.

How much Hubby brings home each month may not be the key issue. A better question might be how much cash is available for both the business and your home. That's an important question because running out of cash at home or in the business will lead to fights at home and failure in the business.

Preparing a simple cash flow is not as tough as it sounds. Make two separate lists. One will contain all the essential home expenses; the other shows essential business expenses. Think it through on a month-by-month basis for two or three years, then add your expected income.

By putting all your expenses on paper, you'll make it easier for the family to handle the sacrifice during the business start-up. Hubby can't say that money needed for the business is being consumed at home. Conversely, the family knows that the business isn't wasting the money they're saving.

Be realistic in your estimates. Being overly optimistic on either income or expenses can put your business and family budget on the road to ruin. You'll be much better off planning for the worst case and adjusting if the business does better than planned.

Please don't plan on using credit cards to make up for a lack of cash, either in your business or for home expenses. It might seem like a good idea at first, but the interest rates will turn a small loan into a big problem in short order. Using credit to cover expenses is a warning sign -- a wake-up call that says you must take a second look at your business. Being an entrepreneur includes the possibility of failure. There's no shame in trying and failing, but don't be Don Quixote Inc. and go broke chasing an impossible dream. Know when it might be time to shut it down.

After you put together a cash flow, you may decide that you don't have enough cash to get the business up and running. Sad though that is, it's better to figure that out now before you spend all your savings and suffer a business failure. Perhaps delaying the business start-up until more money can be saved is all that's necessary. If so, that could be the difference between success and failure.
 
I hope that Hubby's business gets off to a great start.

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The Hottest Trends for 2011

wholesale,buyer,seller Global B2B buy sell website: www.bytrade.com

 

By Eve Gumpel

What do our columnists think the year ahead will bring? Everything from investments in green initiatives to new mobile apps and more accountability from corporate and governmental leaders. Meanwhile, legal eagle Nina Kaufman sounds a cautionary note: She believes cloud computing

 

could lead to a whole new class of lawsuits.

Here are their predictions, in their own words:

"Women running multimillion-dollar businesses have been pushing themselves hard for the past two years. Now that business is starting to flow a little more smoothly, they are focusing on their personal lives.

"I'm not saying -- by any stretch of the imagination -- that they are coasting. But they don't feel such intense pressure as they did this time last year. As a result, they're starting to reward themselves; they may spend a weekend at the spa or take a luxury cruise. The sense is that they have won the battle and now are taking a little time off to celebrate."

-- Mary Cantando, "The Woman's Advantage" columnist and creator of The Woman's Advantage series of products. 

"In 2011, There will be a continued outcry for leaders across industries and in public office to take principled stands. The nation has experienced 'self-interest fatigue,' and we're looking for leaders who put themselves last and create followership based on our collective potential. Markets will continue to improve slowly but steadily. Leaders who create a path forward will thrive.

I also predict (and hope!) that education reform will stay on the front burner as states experiment with how to teach the math, science and critical thinking skills essential for our work force."

-- Kristi Hedges, "The Leadership Factor" columnist and founder ofThe Hedges Company 

1. Commercial real estate will continue to be the best investment value in 2011.


2. Organic, green initiatives and renewable energy will continue to be among the hottest investments and trends.


3. Health care, energy and the financial industry will be great investments into 2011. The financial industry especially will be a value buy.


4. Financing will continue to be difficult into 2011; most small business will turn to non-bank asset-based lending and pay more on the amount borrowed. Lenders will screen out businesses that don't have a solid business model.


5. Unemployment will continue to rise. Small business will continue to lead innovation in the marketplace.


6. More Fortune 500 companies will market to women specifically. So watch the marketing segment grow in 2011.

-- Chia-Li Chien, "Financial Independence" columnist, principal of Chien Associates 

As the world becomes more digital, the distinctions between online and offline will become irrelevant. This has a lot of implications for brands:

1. Brands will have to play well with others, as companies have less and less control over how, when, where and with what other products their brands are experienced.


2. We will need to move from thinking about individual products to thinking about cohesive experiences.


3. We must continue the evolution of integrating online and offline brand experiences.


4. We have to get into the mind of our customers so that we are delivering brand experiences where, when and how they want them.

-- Lynn Parker,  "Branding for Real" columnist and principal of Parker LePla 

Next year you will see a large increase in apps usage as more and consumers use smartphones in their business as well as their personal life. Here are the business apps I recommend for 2011:

1. Square. Square is a mobile credit card payment system. Just plug the free card reader into your smartphone and start swiping.


2. Bento. Bento is a personal database that helps manage everything from to-do lists and exercise logs to event planning and business contacts.


3. 1Password. 1Password remembers your user names, passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive information, so you don't have to.


4. iTimeSheet. The iTimeSheet app helps you track your time by client. You can also view activity reports, create invoices and export the data into Microsoft Excel. So you'll never forget what you did yesterday, last week or last month.


5. Cisco WebEx Meeting Center. Being out of the office doesn't mean you have to be out of the loop. You can make your meeting by using Cisco WebEx Meeting Center in real time over either Wi-Fi or 3G.


6. StartTalking. The StartTalking App makes texting-while-driving 100 percent hands-free and eyes-free. Just start talking to your mobile phone. StartTalking does the rest.

-- Francine Schill,  "The Successful Gal" columnist, founder of The Successful Gal and president of G&G Motorsports Marketing

There's a storm brewing in the clouds, and it's not rainfall. Cloud computing can be a phenomenal innovation for working collaborations. It enables solopreneurs and small firms to work in real time and leverage resources with great efficiency. But it's also a potential cauldron for lawsuits. As companies migrate more data to the "cloud" (including social media), they unwittingly enmesh themselves in collateral issues: confidentiality, data storage, data security and the need to preserve digital information for e-discovery. Law seems to lag behind technology by about a year or so -- so 2011 seems about ripe to start seeing lawsuits crop up.

-- Nina Kaufman,  "Business Law Advisor" columnist and Making It Legal blogger; principal of Ask the Business Lawyer 

1. People will talk less and text and e-mail more.


2. As the economy continues to improve, the solopreneurs who took jobs to survive in 2008 and 2009 will relaunch their practices or other new entrepreneurial endeavors.


3. The number of networking groups you can join will continue to increase, forcing those groups to be more strategic about their message and the value they provide.


4. The trend toward allowing information seekers to replay webinars and live events at their convenience will continue.

-- Kim Lysik Di Santi,  "The Mother Lode" columnist and president of Total Strategy 

I suspect that we will see more peer-to-peer business planning. Because of the need for prompt business idea validation and feedback, startup incubators may emerge as key components of business planning for next-generation entrepreneurs. Business plans will start to appear in a more compact and digital form., making them more accessible to potential funders, mentors and potential customers.

 

 import  ,export , manufacturers

Top Ways To Achieve Your Full Potential

wholesale,buyer Global B2B buy sell website: www.bytrade.com   To achieve your full potential, there are four areas of your life you need to assess. This is crucial because there are few things in life worse than having a dream, yet finding yourself standing in your own way, holding yourself back, leaving you frustrated. For most of us, these four barriers to a better life are usually self-created. Personal development is hindered by four main thieves operating on a daily basis within your life. First, focus on your potential. Begin by making a complete and accurate assessment of your potential. To do this you must take an inventory of yourself - you will make a few lists. Sit down and make a list of all the things you can do well. Be honest with yourself. When that list is done, make a list of all the things you like to do, even if you think you can't do them well. Then, make a list of all the things you would like to do, if you could. Now list your hobbies. Then, go back to the list of things you can do well. You are probably being much too hard on yourself. Most of us are. We have this little voice in our heads telling us things like: "You're so dumb," or "You can't learn to do that," or "You never do anything right," or similar nasty things. And even worse, we listen to that voice as if it's telling us the gospel truth. So now, shut off that voice - you can do it - and add a few more things to the list of things you can do well. Pretend you are your best friend - it's amazing how much more forgiving and charitable we are with our friends than we are with ourselves. Now that you are your best friend, you should be able to add a few more items to your "do well" list. But do be honest - don't list things you feel you really can't do well. Next, go to your list of things you like to do but you feel you don't do well. Speaking as your own best friend, do you think there are some things on this list that could be moved to your "do well" list? There probably are. If you like to do it, chances are you do pretty well at it. Treat your hobby list in the same manner. Next, go to your list of things you would like to do if you could. Ask yourself, "Why can't I do this, if I'd like to?" Put your reasons on another list. OK. So you have a lot of lists going - what good is that going to do? Well, you have just made an assessment of yourself. If you have been truly honest in making these lists, it may even be a fairly accurate assessment. Probably it isn't, but that's OK. This assessment isn't carved in stone. It's subject to change. But for now we will work with what's on the lists. At least you have a place to start. Look over your lists again. You are focusing on all the things you feel you can't do and the reasons why you can't do them, right? Well, don't. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO - FOCUS ON YOUR POTENTIAL. Make it a habit to focus on your strengths. Don't forget to include your undeveloped potential, as well. Train yourself to focus on your potential instead of your limitations. Now that's not to say that you should ignore your list of reasons for not doing some of the things you would like to do. Not at all! But look at them from the viewpoint of your strengths. For instance, you'd like to play basketball but you think you are too short, so you don't even try. In this case, you are looking at it from the viewpoint of your limitations. Now, when you look at it from the viewpoint of your strengths, you would say, "Well, I may be pretty short to play, BUT I am fast. I can handle the ball well. I have a lot of stamina. I can't change being short, but I can refuse to let my limitations overcome my strengths." You see the difference? Focusing on your limitations lets those limitations make your decisions for you. Focusing on your strengths lets YOU make the decision. To go back to our example: when you've decided to overcome your height limitations to play basketball - something you really want to do - you will be more determined to develop your strengths to compensate. You will do well, because you will be doing what you really want to do and you will be determined to develop the full potential of your strengths. Very few people concentrate on fully developing any of their strengths. That's where you will have the edge. You know your true disadvantages but your determination, your singleness of purpose, will inspire you to fully develop the talents and skills you do have. OK. You probably have no interest in playing basketball. Then go to your assessment of yourself. What do you have a major interest in? What do you have a natural aptitude for? Go for it. Devote yourself to something you really like to do. Don't choose something just because you think you could make more money at it than you could by doing something else that you would really rather work at. You won't work to develop your full potential. You may start out with enthusiasm, but you will soon flag. It will be a chore to go to work. You'll probably find yourself hating to go. It'll be difficult to work on improving your skills because you don't like what you are doing. You probably won't be working up to your potential. Your success will probably be limited by your growing lack of interest and your happiness will surely be affected. If, however, you devote yourself to something you really like to do, you'll enjoy your work, you'll be enthusiastic, and you'll probably find yourself working on improving your skills just for the sheer joy of it. You will be working to reach your full potential. You'll probably soon find you are making more money at this truly interesting occupation than you ever dreamed possible. And because you like what you are doing, you will be happier. When you know you are working to your full potential and you enjoy your work and begin to feel successful, you will find that self-confidence and happiness soon follow. But, you must be realistic and honest with yourself. If you set goals that you can't possibly reach, you are setting yourself up for failure. You will make yourself frustrated and unhappy. The key here is a realistic and honest assessment of your potential. Although most people will be unnecessarily harsh in their assessments, it is easy to become too hopeful when you start breaking down barriers. If, for instance, you're extremely interested in and fond of music and would love to be a singer, it would be unreasonable to set a singing career as your goal if you can't sing a note (some talents are inborn). But if you are knowledgeable about the music business and would be happy being involved in some other capacity, then it would be reasonable to pursue a career in the business. Be wary of making otherwise perfectly reasonable goals unattainable because of stringent time frames. When you set a goal, you will most likely set times for achieving certain steps along your way to achieving your final goal. Even if you don't set the time frames formally, you will probably have a pretty good idea of how long you are giving yourself. It's wise to sit down and formally set these goals. Think about it and give yourself reasonable time to achieve them. Make a deal with yourself to view these time limits as flexible. Don't get discouraged if things don't work out as planned. Sometimes finding our place takes both time and error. All of us experience failures of one magnitude or another. The key is to view the failures as a learning experience - if nothing else, failures teach us what not to do. Remain flexible. As long as you keep focusing on your strengths and potential, the right thing will come along - and probably sooner rather than later. But don't quit at the first sign of boredom. Even if you have truly found your niche, you will not feel enthusiastic 100 percent of the time. Don't worry about others - don't compare your progress with that of others. No matter how successful you are, there will be someone else who, to you, looks like she's got it made - who looks like she's getting where you want to go faster and easier than you are. Maybe she is. Maybe she isn't. Who cares? Focus on your own achievements. Work to develop your skills and talents to their full potential. Compete with yourself - your short term goals should be based on today's accomplishments. If you have reached Point A today, make Point B your next objective - improve yourself and don't worry about the other guy. OK. You have decided what your ultimate goal is. Make sure it is a definitely defined goal. "Someday I want to be famous" just won't cut it. Define exactly what you want to do. Define a reasonable time frame. Know what you have to do to get there. You don't need to know every little detail, but you do have to have the big picture and many of the details. If you have a goal in mind but don't know what it takes to reach it, then you need to find out. Do some reading, talk to people who know, ask questions and LISTEN to the answers. Think that sounds like a lot of work? Well, remember what you are preparing for - your success and happiness. Surely you want to put a little effort into that! Anyway, a little reseach into what it will take for you to reach your goals isn't too difficult. Train yourself into making this "research" the next focus of your life. You will be focusing on your strengths, on your purpose, and on learning and doing. If you have chosen a goal that is right for you, focusing on these things and devoting the necessary time should not be too difficult. It may take a bit of self-discipline at first, but your determination and interest will carry you through until the focusing process becomes a habit. When you have a real desire to accomplish something, initiatative should only require an occasional shove - but you may need to give it a nudge now and again. Get into the habit of visualizing your success. Now sitting around and daydreaming in generalizations about it is not what we mean. You need to visualize specifics. To return to the basketball example, daydreaming about being carried off the court on your teammates' shoulders is just daydreaming. Picturing in your mind how you will work a play if your opponent makes a particular move, picturing your exact response to it, is visualizing specifics. If you run through specific moves in your mind, you will be prepared when the need for those moves arises. Don't be afraid to use your imagination to visualize new and better ways to accomplish things, as well. Here in your mind, you can try doing things in ways that are different from the usual. This is a creative process - you may have heard of creative thinking. Training yourself to think creatively is largely learning to let your imagination work on methods that are different from the "way things have always been done." It's breaking away from the idea that a thing can be done effectively in only one way. It's looking at a problem from all angles. Just play a game of "what if." Ask yourself, "What if I did this thing this way?" It's OK to get a little crazy sometimes. But, you must also spend some of your thinking time at specific visualizations of the moves you need to make to accomplish your goals. Visualizations are important but actual physical practice of your skills is important, too. Practice the boring little skills that are necessary as well as the skills that you enjoy. Don't let yourself rely on just the things that come naturally and easy to you. Develop your limited potentials as well as those that you feel are your assets. Work on developing the more general attributes that are important to almost any goal: Success comes more easily to those who have a pleasing personality. This is not to say that you should bend to eveyone's wishes or scrape and bow. Rather, develop an attitude that is respectful of other's opinions but true to your own beliefs. Be flexible - don't be so rigid that you can't accept another's opinion when it is superior to your own. Be willing, even eager, to learn from others. Changing your opinion in light of more facts is a sign of strength of character, not weakness. Be willing to extend a helpful hand, be a team player. Develop a sense of humor. Be polite and caring - but be your own person. Learn to guard against emotional responses. You are susceptible to errors of judgement when you let your emotions get in the way. Of course, everything we do is done based somewhat on our emotions, but strong emotions have little place in decision making. Hold your emotions in check. Try to delay decisions if you are in an emotional state. Learn to ignore your emotions and use reasoning to arrive at your decisions. Develop the habit of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm works like a magnet - it draws people and success. It's a pleasing personality trait that people like to be a part of. It seems to be contagious - the people around you become enthusiastic, too, and become more cooperative. Enthusiasm sparks initiative and singleness of purpose. We've talked of working to develop habits - the habit of focusing on your goals, the habit of focusing on your strengths, the habit of learning and "researching," the habit of visualizing, the habit of enthusiasm. Now we will talk of habits in a little different light - breaking them. First, assess your habits looking for the ones that may be displeasing to others. Offensive habits can hold you back from success - they are often a part of an unpleasing personality. Look for things like grumbling or grunting at people instead of answering, gazing at anything but the speaker when conversing, smirking or sneering when you don't agree - anything that is an automatic, displeasing mannerism. It will be very difficult to assess your habits accurately. After all, a habit is something that we do without thinking much about it. You will have to spend some time at this and be very conscious of yourself. Ask someone you trust to help you with this assessment. It may take a lot of work to break yourself of displeasing habits. Try substituting a different, more pleasing behavior for the habit you wish to break. OK. You have set definite goals, you have a definiteness of purpose, you have researched and know the specific steps to take to achieve the goals, you have resolved to be flexible and to develop a more pleasing personality. Now what? Well, just because you have a clear purpose, know what you want, are willing to work on developing your potential, and willing to be a nice person, success will not drop into your lap overnight. Be prepared to face people who are not calm and reasonable. Don't let them get to you. Remain calm and reasonable and even be a little sympathetic. Suppose you have an irate customer even though you have done nothing wrong. Just remain calm and offer a solution that will benefit your customer. Never let an irate customer make you forget to be professional. Play "Let's Make A Deal." Be prepared to deal. Don't expect to get everything you want. If you are willing to gracefully make some concessions, you will be more likely to arrive at a satisfactory deal. After all, a negotiation has at least two opposing sides. This means someone else has something they want, too - even if that something is simply to leave things as they are. Arrive at a compromise that everyone can live with. Remember, you are working at long-range goals, and you may be negotiating with them again. Thinking thoughtfully about how the four thieves above hold you back from the life you want allows you to make the changes you need to make. Take the time now to asses your present situation. Using a common expression - life is not a dress rehearsal. Don’t procrastinate

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Top ways to promote international business

wholesale export , manufacturers Global B2B buy sell website: www.bytrade.com

As the world economy becomes more intertwined, international trade becomes increasingly important, The most common instruments that governments use to promote trade are: subsidies, export financing, foreign trade zones, and special government agencies.you can do as below to promote the international business

 1   Learn all you can about international trade. A good way to promote international trade is by becoming an expert in the field.

  2  Become a self-appointed international trade ambassador. Promoting international trade in your daily life, even without any formal plan or strategy, is a great way to get the information out that international trade benefits everyone.

  3  Get past the old notion of buying American. An increase in international trade leads to an increase in the availability of high quality, affordable goods and services. Embrace the inevitability of the global marketplace.

  4  Visit high schools, colleges and career fairs to promote international trade careers. Many people simply do not understand the ins and outs of trading between nations. Therefore, they don't recognize it as an option when it comes to thinking about careers.

  5  Contact the Department of Commerce in your state, and talk to someone in the International Trade Division. You can use this resource to learn about upcoming events, as wells as for information gathering.

  6  Talk to an international trade representative at your state's Department of Commerce about a sister-city program. Many cities have used such programs to promote trade between businesses in different countries.

  7  Work with the Department of Commerce to organize a business tour of another city. This type of organized trip is intended to allow business owners and managers to view business practices in other countries. Such a trip can also be used for networking purposes.

  8  Pursue a career in international trade. International trade specialists are in demand as the world economy grows more integrated.

  9  Talk to your company's management about expanding operations to include international trade. A strong proposal may convince management that doing business with overseas companies can greatly increase revenue.

  10  Go back to school to earn a degree in an international trade field. Graduate and post-graduate work in international finance, marketing, research or logistics can promote trade and provide a path to a job.

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Business Risks in International Trade

suppliers, wholesale,buyer Global B2B buy sell website: www.bytrade.com

 

Entrepreneurs need to have a full understanding of the existing trade systems in the world before they engage in business transactions. A lot of companies had been crippled down as its expenses exceed its profit due to lack of in depth consideration of the business risks in international trade.

Many risks in business have to be considered so that entrepreneurs could prolong their lives in the business arena. Factors such as national laws, political situations, international treaties as well as globalization should be taken in consideration since they could directly affect international business transactions in one way or another.

At the same time, the bargaining power of the host country is equally substantial to profitable international operations in terms of the size of the market, its wealth, the abundance in its raw materials and the level of governmental intervention.

Other risks associated to international trade are:

Customer Risk

Customer risk investigates the identity of customers in the host country. By assessing customer risk, the firm inspects if customers are legally established businesses in the host country or importers, if the firms' exports are compatible with the customers' business profile, what are the customers' credit limits and period, their trading history, their paying credibility and solvency.

Credit Risk

Credit risk is associated with the customers' solvency but also the firm's business cycle. To assess this type of risk, the firm needs to take into consideration the amount of credit outstanding - both overseas and domestic - in the trading accounts, the impact of a customer's financial pitfall of the firm, the maximum amount of credit which should not be exceeded, and most importantly how to finance the offered credit period. Having sufficient cash to allow offering credit terms in export sales is a substantial part of the firm's business circle.

Foreign Exchange Risk

Foreign exchange risk is associated with dealing in the host country in more than one currency. This type of international trade risk typically affects export and import businesses as

they are exposed to fluctuations in the foreign exchange markets. If money

is converted to another currency in order to make a payment to the host country, then any changes in the currency exchange rate will cause that money's value to either decrease or increase when the payment is being made and currency is converted back into the original currency.

Political Risk

Political risk measures the variability in the value of the firm, caused by uncertainty about political changes. In the era of globalization, host countries may be facing rigid legislative, judiciary and governmental institutions, unfavourable to international operations from foreign firms. Moreover, dictatorships, bribery, corruption and unstable governments are, in many cases, substantial reasons for assessing the political risk involved in a firm's launching onto a foreign country.

Moreover, political risk in the host country is often not correlated with global economic conditions thus eliminating the possibility of global intervention. Ideally, the firm's cash flows should be invested in different host countries. Yet, in the absence of global intervention, the firm's cash flows do not allow risk diversification.

Country Risk

Closely related to the political risk factor, country risk is affected by the legislative, judiciary and governmental institutions, the current account deficit, the level of national debt, the foreign exchange reserves, the internal or external threats to the host country and the imposition of tariff or other quotas, and import or export restrictions. It may also include the risk of physical climactic catastrophes such as flood, drought, and earthquake.

Beyond doubt, doing business in a foreign country entails major business risks. The key is to assess these risks properly in order to eliminate the failure factor in the firm's global operations, but also to be prepared to anticipate the cost of such a failure.

exporter ,buying, selling,  purchase

Exit Strategies for Your Business

export , manufacturers Global B2B buy sell website: www.bytrade.com

 

Your exit strategy is the key to realizing the full lifestyle potential of your entrepreneurial efforts. It can help you establish your life after business, as well as provide for your heirs, partners and business associates.

For those of you who like to plan ahead--and for those of you who don't but should--here are the five primary exit strategies available to most entrepreneurs:

The Modified Nike Maneuver: Just Take It. One favorite exit strategy of some forward-thinking business owners is simply to bleed the company dry on a daily basis. I don't mean run it in the red--I mean pay yourself a huge salary, reward yourself with a gigantic bonus regardless of actual company performance, and issue a special class of shares that only you own that gives you ten times the dividends the other shareholders receive. Although we frown upon these practices in public companies, in private companies, this actually isn't such a bad idea. It's called a "lifestyle company."

Rather than reinvesting money in growing your business, in lifestyle companies, you keep things small, take out a comfortable chunk, and simply live on the income. In one of my most memorable Harvard Business School moments, my fellow classmates and I asked the owner of a small, fabulously profitable manufacturing company why he didn't grow the business bigger and sell it for a gazillion dollars. His response: "Excuse me? You've had way too much schooling. What part of 30-hour work weeks and a $5 million personal income don't you understand?"

Remember, money in the wallet is no longer money in the business. If you're in a business that must invest to grow, taking out too much money can hurt you down the road. Also, if you have other investors, taking too much can upset them. Imagine their surprise when investors in a small business I once worked for received the company's internal loan repayment spreadsheet, showing that the business owner was pulling out bucks by paying his family exorbitant interest on loans while investor loans were repaid at rock-bottom rates over as long a time period as possible.

If you think you're in business for the lifestyle, minimize your dependence on other investors and structure the business to allow you to draw out cash as needed.

Pros

• Who doesn't like seven figures of take-home pay?


• Private jets are fun.


• There's no need to think hard about getting out: Just pull out the money when you need it.

Cons

• The way you pull the money out may have negative tax implications. For example, a high salary is taxed as ordinary income, while an acquisition could bring money in the form of capital gains.


• Without careful long-term planning, you may end up pulling out money now you'll need later.

The Liquidation. Even lifestyle entrepreneurs can decide that enough is enough. One often-overlooked exit strategy is simply to call it quits, close the business doors, and call it a day. I don't know anyone who's founded a business planning to liquidate it someday, but it happens all the time. If you liquidate, however, any proceeds from the assets must be used to repay creditors. The remainder gets divided among the shareholders--if there are other shareholders, you want to make sure they get their due.

Pros

• It's easy and it's natural. Everything comes to an end.


• There's no negotiations involved.


• There's no worrying about transfer of control.

Cons

• Get real; it's a waste! At most, you get the market value of your company's assets.


• Things like client lists, your reputation, and your business relationships may be very valuable, and liquidation just destroys them without an opportunity to recover their value.


• Other shareholders may be less than thrilled at how much you're leaving on the table.

My favorite piano bar in Boston simply vanished one day when the owner decided he was tired of show tunes. His regular patrons were crushed, but then, he didn't consult with us first....

Selling to a Friendly Buyer. If my neighborhood piano bar owner had asked, we might have wanted to buy the business ourselves. You see, if you've become emotionally attached to what you've built, even easier than liquidating your business is the option of passing ownership to another true believer who will preserve your legacy. Interested parties might include customers, employees, children or other family members.

The fictional Willy Wonka handed off his chocolate empire to a little boy who was a loyal Wonka customer, someone who was chosen with great care through a selection process designed to weed out all but the most dedicated Wonka devotees. Wonka was able to choose his heir apparent and ride off into the sunset a happier entrepreneur.

Of course, the buyer needn't come from outside. You can also sell your business to current employees or managers. Often in this kind of sale, the seller finances the sale and lets the buyer pay it off over time. A hair stylist I knew learned a local salon owner was shutting his doors and decided to propose a low-money-down deal to acquire the salon. The owner still makes more this way than he would by closing, and the stylist gets to earn his way into owning a business. It's a win-win for everyone involved.

The purest friendly buyout occurs when the business is passed down to the family. But remember, the key to "family business" is the word "family." Is yours functional? No sooner than you leave the family business to the kids, it's likely they'll end up fighting over who got the larger share, who does or doesn't deserve the ownership they got, and who gets the final word. They'll finger-point for a decade while the business slowly declines into ruin, then blame you for not leaving clearer instructions. If you decide to go this route, you've got a lot of planning to do before getting out.

Pros

• You know them. They know you. There's less due diligence required.


• Your buyer will most likely preserve what's important to you about the business.


• If management buys the business, they have a commitment to making it work.


• Selling to family makes good on that regrettable offhand promise made 30 years ago, "Someday, son/daughter, all this will be yours."

Cons

• You can get so attached to being bought by someone nice that you leave too much money on the table.


• If you sell to a friend, they'll be peeved when they discover they just bought the liability for that decade's worth of taxes you forgot to pay.


• Selling to family can tear the company apart with jealousies and promotions that put emotion way ahead of business needs.

The Acquisition. The acquisition was invented so you can sell your business and leave the kids money, still spoiling them rotten, but at least sparing the business from second-generation ruin. Acquisition is one of the most common exit strategies: You find another business that wants to buy yours and sell, sell, sell.

In an acquisition, you negotiate price. This is good. Public markets value you relative to your industry. Who wants that? In an acquisition, the sky's the limit on your perceived value. You see, the person making the acquisition decision is rarely the owner of the acquiring company, so they don't feel the pain of acquisition cost. Convince them you're worth a billion dollars, and they'll gladly break out their employer's checkbook.

If you choose the right acquirer, your value can far exceed what would be reasonable based on your income. How do you select the right company? Look for strategic fit: Which acquirer can buy you to expand into a new market, or offer a new product to their existing customers? I recently read that a classmate of mine started a company that was acquired during the Internet boom for $500 million when it was just 18 months old. He commanded a huge price because his acquirer thought the acquisition gave them critical capabilities faster than they could develop those capabilities on their own.

But acquisition has its dark side. If there's a bad fit between the acquirer and acquiree, the combined companies can self-destruct. The acquired management team can end up locked into working for the combined company, and if things head south, they get to watch their baby implode from within. Time Warner recently announced that they're thinking of spinning off AOL, almost exactly five years after the two companies merged. What, exactly, did the merger accomplish? It made two CEOs very wealthy--and destroyed years' worth of work and billions of dollars. I'm sure the AOL employees who stuck it out enjoyed that particular ride!

If you're thinking of acquisition as your exist strategy, make yourself attractive to acquisition candidates, but don't go so far as to you cut off your other options. One software company knew exactly whom they wanted to sell to, so they developed their product in a way that meshed perfectly with the prospective suitor's products. Too bad the suitor had no interest in the acquisition. The software company was left with a product so specialized that no one else wanted to buy them either.

Pros

• If you have strategic value to an acquirer, they may pay far more than you're worth to anyone else.


• If you get multiple acquirers involved in a bidding war, you can ratchet your price to the stratosphere.

Cons

• If you organize your company around a specific be-acquired target, that may prevent you from becoming attractive to other acquirers.


• Acquisitions are messy and often difficult when cultures and systems clash in the merged company.


• Acquisitions can come with noncompete agreements and other strings that can make you rich, but make your life unpleasant for a time.

The IPO. I've saved IPOs for last, because they're sexy, they're flashy, and they get all the press. Too bad they make the lottery look good by comparison. There are millions of companies in the U.S., and only about 7,000 of those are public. And many public companies weren't even founded by entrepreneurs but rather were spun out from existing companies. Heck, AT&T and its spin-offs are almost a significant fraction of the listed exchanges!

If you're funded by professional investors with a track record of taking companies public, you might be able to do it. Of course, the professional investors will also have diluted you down to the point where you only own a tiny fraction of your company anyway. The investors will make out great. And maybe, if you're the principle entrepreneur and have done a great job protecting your equity, you'll make some money, too.

But if you're a bootstrapper, believing in a fair IPO is a touchingly na�ve act of faith. Besides, do you have any idea what's actually involved in an IPO?

You start by spending millions just preparing for the road show, where you grovel to convince investors your stock should be worth as much as possible. (You even do a "reverse split," if necessary, to drive up the share price.) Unlike an acquisition, where you craft a good fit with a single suitor, here you romancing hundreds of Wall Street analysts. If the romance fails, you've blown millions. And if you succeed, you end up married to analysts. You call that a life?

Once public, you bow and scrape to the analysts. These earnest 28-year-olds--who haven't produced anything of value since winning their fifth grade limerick contest--will study your every move, soberly declaring your utter incompetence at running the business you've built over decades. It's one thing to receive this treatment from your loving spouse. It's quite another to receive it from Smith Barney.

We won't even talk about the need to conform to Sarbanes-Oxley, or the 6 percent underwriting fees you'll pay to investment bankers, or lockout periods, or how down markets can tank your wealth despite having a healthy business, or how IPO-raised funds distort your income statement, or ...

In short, IPOs are not only rare, they're a pain in the backside. They make the headlines in the very, very rare cases that they produce 20-year-old billionaires. But when you're founding your company, consider them just one of many exit strategies. Realize that there are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and just as many ways to get value out of your company. Think ahead, surely, but do it with sanity and gravitas. And if you find yourself tempted to start looking for more office space in preparation for your IPO in 18 months, call me first. I'll talk you down until the paramedics arrive.

Pros

• You'll be on the cover of Newsweek.


• Your stock will be worth in the tens--or maybe even hundreds--of millions of dollars.


• Your VCs will finally stop bugging you as they frantically try to insure their shares will retain value even when the lockout period expires (Warning: they won't necessarily be looking out for your shares, too.)

Cons

• Only a very few number of small businesses actually have this option available to them since there are very few IPOs completed annually in the United States.


• You need financial and accounting rigor from day one far above what many entrepreneurs generally put in place.


• Some forms of corporation--S-corps, for example--will require a reorganization before they can be taken public.


• You'll spend your time selling the company, not running it.


• Investment bankers take 6 percent off the top, and the transaction costs on an IPO can run in the millions.


• When your lockout restrictions expire, your stock will be worth as much as a third world hovel.

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6 Natural Remedies to 'Cure' a Cold

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By Chris Kilham

With winter fully upon us, cold season has officially arrived, with coughing, sinus congestion

 

, and the dullness that colds impart. Fortunately, natural cold remedies can help you to beat colds more quickly, and reduce the severity of symptoms.

Here are a few of my favorite remedies, which are free of side effects.

1. Fresh ginger root
Spicy and inexpensive, fresh ginger root is my all-time favorite pick for cold care. Buy ginger fresh (organic is preferred), and cut a piece about an inch and a half long. Either chop that piece very finely or grate it. Put the finely minced ginger into a tea strainer, and put the tea strainer in a cup. Pour fresh boiling water into the cup. Let the tea sit for five minutes. Remove the tea strainer, and squeeze the ginger with a spoon to get a bit more of the ginger juice into the cup. Flavor with a spoonful of honey and sip. The anti-inflammatory gingerols and shaogals in ginger root will help to relieve a sore throat quickly, and they also kill rhinoviruses, which cause colds in the first place. Drink three or more cups daily until you are well. You can also drink the same ginger tea to warm up on a very cold winter day. For children, reduce the concentration of the tea a bit, so it’s less spicy.

2. Eucalyptus essential oil
You are congested, and your nose feels like it is plugged with baking dough. Fill the bathroom sink with hot water. Drop three to five drops of eucalyptus essential oil into the sink water. Drape a towel over your head, and bend over the sink. Breathe the vapors. Do this for five minutes. Eucalyptus essential oil is nature’s very best decongestant. As you breathe the vapors, you will feel your sinuses opening up. Do this as many times as you need. The eucalyptus vapors will also get deep into your chest, and can help to open up congested bronchial tubes. You can also get eucalyptus-based cough drops. They too will help you to decongest.

3. Echinacea
Even though a recent study found little improvement in colds when Echinacea was used, many other studies have shown that Echinacea, a traditional herbal cold remedy, does in fact reduce both the severity and the duration of colds. Your best Echinacea remedies are those made from fresh Echinacea. Try the Gaia Herbs brand or the Herb Pharm brand of fluid Echinacea extracts, or Echinaforce by A. Vogel.

4. Umcka
This funny name is a traditional San tribal name for the South African herb Pelargonium sidoides. You don’t need to remember the Latin name, but do remember Umcka. Especially when taken at the beginning of a cold, Umcka can cut the entire misery short. Human clinical studies show that Umcka works well. My two favorite brands are Umcka by Nature’s Way, and Cold Check by EuroPharma, which contains both umcka and another cold-fighting herb Andrographis.

5. Elder flower tea
Both a traditional remedy and a well studied modern medicine, elder flower helps to relieve the symptoms of a cold. It is safe even for very small children, and is remarkably gentle. Plus elder flower has a pleasant taste, so kids won’t find it objectionable.

6. The super decongestant tea of all time
If your local natural food store has loose herbs, buy equal amounts of eucalyptus, hyssop and sage. Add equal amounts of the three herbs together. Put a teaspoon of the mixture into a tea strainer. Pour freshly boiled water over the herbs and let steep for three minutes. Strain and drink. I have found that when nothing else will provide decongestant relief, this remarkable tea will do so very effectively. Drink one to three cups daily, and stop if your sinuses dry out too much.

Natural remedies work, and that is why they are the most widely used medicines on earth.

I keep all the remedies above in my home, ready for use. If you supply yourself with natural remedies for when cold season hits, you won’t be left scrambling to get them once symptoms have set in. In addition to the remedies above, if you do come down with a cold, stay warm, get plenty of rest, and take time to recover. And yes, for reasons that we do not entirely understand, chicken soup does help too. There’s a reason it’s affectionately known as “Jewish penicillin.”

Basically, follow the advice of wise grandmothers, and you’ll start to feel better

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Massachusetts Cop Was Killed by Career Criminal Out on Parole Despite Three Life Sentences

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The Massachusetts Parole Board is under scrutiny after a local police officer was killed by a career criminal who was released despite serving a term of three concurrent life sentences.

Dominic Cinelli was serving time for shooting a security guard during an armed robbery to feed his heroin addiction when he told the board in November 2008 that he was a changed man, the Boston Globe reported.

Four months later the board unanimously voted to free Cinelli, but police say the 57-year-old returned to his ugly ways Sunday, fatally shooting Woburn police officer John Maguire, 60, while robbing a Kohl's department store. Cinelli also died in the shootout.

But critics say Cinelli isn't the only person to blame for Maguire's death.

"I don't know how any member of the Parole Board justifies that," Laurie Myers, president of Community Voices, a Chelmsford-based nonprofit that advocates on behalf of crime victims, told the Globe. "He shouldn't have been out, and now there's another person dead."

Cinelli had a lengthy rap sheet filled with armed robberies, assaults and other offenses, had been serving three life sentences since 1976, and had chronic disciplinary problems while in prison including two escapes during which he committed crimes, the Globe reported.

Still, he won the board over by saying the deaths in the family, including his mother's, and drug counseling changed him, the paper reported.

"When you hear that somebody who had been serving three life sentences is released on parole and commits another violent crime that causes the death of a police officer, that causes us great concern," Mark K. Leahy, president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association and the Northborough police chief told the Globe.

John Grossman, the state's undersecretary of public safety and security, told the Globe that Gov. Deval Patrick ordered the Parole Board to review the decision.

"We're doing a complete look at what happened, and whatever amount of time it takes to do it right, we're going to take," he said.

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