Black Swan Management, LLC

Investments and Strategies for the Future of Business

Posts Tagged investing

Investors in Your Business – Are They the Best Solution For Your Funding Problems?

Sep 20

Posted by Lee Lister in business startup, venture capital/funding | No Comments

When looking for investors in a new business – I usually suggest that you go first seek out any grants or government assistance that your state, county or country offer – as this money is often subsidized and easier to obtain for a new business.

Your next stop would be the bank. They will be seeking to lend you money that is secured on some kind of collateral. A business loan is more usually for 2 – 5 years. A bank will not generally want to get involved with your business – just some confirmation that they will get their money back with interest.

The next port of call is an investor. Now these people are totally different to banks – in that that are actually investing in you and your business and they often want to get involved with your business as well. So let’s analyze this a little more.

What are investors looking for?
* In your business: They want a sound business or business idea with some kind of unique concept that they believe will rapidly move to profitability. They want a well thought out and credible business plan with realistic financials.
* In you: They want a hard working entrepreneur with good experience in the business area. They will look at your personality, your abilities and your past resume to see if your are the kind of person that can make a success of this type of business. Similarly they will want to feel that they can work with you – because they will be.
* From the loan: Investors will only want to invest in your business for a few years, often a low as one year. They expect to be able to obtain a good rate of return on what they see as a risky investment. They will also often require a share of your business as their security. If you are seeking a large loan – they will often request a seat on the board of your company so that they can exercise some kind of control on the business activities.

What they will bring to your company:
* Experience and Guidance: Investors often invest in areas that they know a lot about. They are obviously keen for your business to be a success as their return on their investment is dependant upon this factor. This means that they will often offer guidance and help to you as part of the package.
* Cash Injection and Cash Flow: Some times you can request a staged investment from an investor, subject to you reaching agreed deadlines. This not only concentrates the mind in your business development, but also ensures that money is available when you need it. Suffice it to say that cash is always welcome in a business.

Your business plan is very important. You need to prove that you meet all the requirements above, but you also have to include what is called an Exit Strategy. This basically answers and lays out in detail, the four questions that every investor will ask:
* What’s in it for me?
* How soon do I get my money back?
* How risky is it?
* How much will I make from this investment?

One last suggestion for you – if you do not have the experience of every part of your new business, I would consider bringing such a person onto your team. Good luck with your new business.

Author: Lee Lister
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

Tags: , , , , ,

The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway – Warren Buffett

Sep 13

Posted by Shawna S. Ruppert in warren buffett, wealth | No Comments

There aren’t many people that can one can consider to have achieved true fame due to their investing acumen, but Warren Buffet is certainly among them. Warren Buffett Trivia will show that he was born to humble beginnings in Nebraska in 1930. Buffett seemed to be interested in business right from an early age. By the time he entered high school, he was already involved in a business venture involving placing pinball machines in local businesses.

A Warren Buffett quiz will show that he obtained a Masters in Economics from Columbia University, and from a very early age his goal was to make his living as an investor. He would begin working for Benjamin Graham in the fifties. Graham had been a man whose theories on investing and finance had been one of the major influences on Buffett’s early studies.

Buffett would steadily and quickly accumulate wealth over the next several years. Warren Buffett trivia will show that he is most commonly known as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which was a company that he began to acquire in 1965. He would steadily acquire and trade other companies over the years. Some organizations in which he has been a major player include the Washington Post, the Buffalo Evening News, and ABC.

A Warren Buffett quiz will show that he has been among the Forbes 400 for many years now, but in 2008 he was the richest man in the world. He accomplished this by dethroning Microsoft founder Bill Gates who had been atop the list for many years by that point. He has since been pushed back to second place on the list, which is due to two reasons. First, he has donated millions of his fortune to charity. Secondly, as an active investor, the recession of 2008 affected his fortunes more than they did Gates.

After his investing, the philanthropy of Buffett must be addressed, as he is clearly established as one of the world’s most giving philanthropists. Buffett has publicly denounced the rich who will all of their money to their descendants. He has also discussed his will publicly. Although he wishes his children to be comfortable, and able to pursue any goals they wish, he always wanted them to pursue goals, rather than simply living off his wealth. Famously, he announced that 83% of his fortune would be given away to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Author: Shawna S. Ruppert
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Benefits of electric pressure cooker

Tags: , , , ,

What are Affiliate Programs?

Sep 6

Posted by Amit Doda in business | No Comments

Affiliate programs, also called associate programs, are arrangements in which an online merchant Web site pays affiliate Web sites a commission to send them traffic. These affiliate Web sites post links to the merchant site and are paid according to a particular agreement. This agreement is usually based on the number of people the affiliate sends to the merchant’s site, or the number of people they send who buy something or perform some other action. Some arrangements pay according to the number of people who visit the page containing their merchant site’s banner advertisement. Basically, if a link on an affiliate site brings the merchant site traffic or money, the merchant site pays the affiliate site according to their agreement. Recruiting affiliates is an excellent way to sell products online, but it can also be a cheap and effective marketing strategy; it’s a good way to get the word out about your site. There are at least three parties in an affiliate program transaction:

  • The customer
  • The affiliate site
  • The merchant sitePayment methods normally used in affiliate programs:
    There are five basic types of affiliate program payment arrangements:
  • Pay-per-sale (also called cost-per-sale): In this arrangement, the merchant site pays an affiliate when the affiliate sends them a customer who purchases something. Some merchant Web sites, like Amazon.com, pay the affiliate a percentage of the sale and others pay a fixed amount per sale.
  • Pay-per-click (cost-per-click): In these programs, the merchant site pays the affiliate based on the number of visitors who click on the link to come to the merchant’s site. They don’t have to buy anything, and it doesn’t matter to the affiliate what a visitor does once he gets to the merchant’s site.
  • Pay-per-lead (cost-per-lead): Companies with these programs pay their affiliates based on the number of visitors they refer who sign up as leads. This simply means the visitor fills out some requested information at the merchant site, which the merchant site may use as a sales lead or sell to another company as a sales lead.
  • Two-tier programs: These affiliate programs have a structure similar to multilevel marketing organizations (also known as “network marketing”).In addition to receiving commissions based on sales, clicks or leads stemming from their own site, affiliates in these programs also receive a commission based on the activity of affiliate sites they refer to the merchant site.
  • Residual Programs: Affiliates in these programs can keep making money off a visitor they send to the site if the visitor continues to purchase goods or services from the merchant site. Many online merchants who receive regular payments from their customers (such as monthly service fees) run this sort of affiliate program.Additionally, there are a few pay-per-impression affiliate programs. Companies running these programs, also called pay-per-view programs, pay affiliates based only on the number of visitors who see their banner ad.

    Affiliate networks, or “affiliate brokers,” act as mediators between affiliates and merchant Web sites with affiliate programs. They track all activity, arrange all payment, and help affiliates set up the necessary links on their Web site. Additionally, affiliate networks help recruit affiliates by including an online merchant’s affiliate program in their directory. Different affiliate networks offer different extra features, but most have a help-center and a place affiliates and merchants can go to view reports of their traffic. Affiliate networks are a real convenience for prospective affiliates because they present a wide variety of affiliate programs in one central location. They make it much easier to find a good program that is appropriate for your site.

    How to implement Affiliate Programs:

    If you are interested in getting involved in affiliate programs, the first thing you have to do is decide whether you want to become an affiliate, want to acquire affiliates, or both.

    Join as Affiliate: If you run a small content site as a hobby and would simply like to bring in a little money to cover production costs, you can join as an affiliate. Becoming an affiliate is relatively easy. Go to an affiliate network site and fill out an online application to become a member. The application will ask for some personal information (name, address, payment method) and information on your site (URL, name, and description of content) and will have you agree to a service agreement. Most affiliate networks are completely free for affiliates.

    If the affiliate network approves your application, you can begin picking affiliate programs that interest you. Once you’ve chosen some affiliate programs, the online merchants running these programs will have the opportunity to review your site. If they approve you, the affiliate network will walk you through the process of posting the appropriate links, which come directly from the network’s site. They will also establish payment arrangements with you. Because the amount of money you earn per action can be extremely small, most affiliate networks have a set minimum payout amount. This means you won’t receive a check until the total money owed you reaches a certain amount. After you have set all this up and the affiliate network has explained its system to you, you can get back to work on your Web site’s content and wait for your money to come in.

    Acquiring Affiliate: If you run an e-commerce site and would like to increase your sales, you might want to start your own affiliate program. Your best bet is probably joining an affiliate network. An affiliate network will help you set up an affiliate program and work to recruit affiliates for you. You’ll have to fill out an application describing the nature of your business and your Web site. You’ll also have to agree to the terms of the affiliate network and make a number of deposits. These will probably include a one time charge for becoming a member of the network as well as a deposit to be used to pay your affiliates. Some affiliate networks also charge a yearly fee for their services. To join one of the major affiliate networks you’ll probably have to put up between $1,000 and $5,000. You will also pay the affiliate network a percentage of every payout to an affiliate. In return, the affiliate network will help you set everything up, keep track of all the activity in your affiliate program, issue your affiliates checks and distribute your links to appropriate affiliates. They will give you the option of reviewing prospective affiliates, or you can choose to accept all interested affiliates automatically.

    The alternative to acquiring affiliates, maintaining an affiliate program yourself, is significantly more complicated. Among other things, you would have to screen and recruit all affiliates yourself, purchase and maintain some sort of tracking technology, instruct your affiliates on how to set up links to your site, set up an accounting system for paying all of your affiliates and set up a help line to assist all your affiliates. There are a number of traffic-tracking software applications that will probably cost between $100 and $500, significantly less than joining an affiliate network. Another option is to sign on to a company that keeps track of the traffic involved in your affiliate program by running it through their site on the way to yours. Using one of these companies costs about the same as tracking software, and they also only assist you in tracking. Maintaining the business end of an affiliate program is more than we can explore in this article, which is a good indicator it is also more than most Web sites would want to get into.

    To create your own affiliate program you can use the software too. Like AFFPLANT software of Affplanet.com which is available at there site at http://www.affplanet.com/?lid=f1f483a3&a_aid=4c7ff379&a_bid=0ad7b67d.
    Methods for linking: An affiliate (Publisher) can link to a merchant site in a number of ways. The best link choice depends on the nature of the affiliate and the nature of the merchant. Each kind of link is specially suited for particular purposes. Common types of links include:

  • Text links.
  • Banner links
  • Search box
    There are several ways affiliate programs use these links:
  • Link to the home page: This is a straight-forward link to the merchant’s home page.
  • Product-specific link: If an affiliate Web site wants to sell only a specific product, they can link to that product’s page on the merchant Web site.
  • Storefronts: If an affiliate Web site wants to expose visitors to a variety of products, they can link to a storefront.
  • Co-branding: In some affiliate programs, affiliates can maintain their Web site identity even after a customer links to the merchant Web site. Like in this URL the Howstuffworks.com links to top10affiliates.com and also contains its identity too. http://money.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=affiliate-program.htm&url=http://www.top10affiliates.com
  • Registration: An affiliate can link directly to a registration form on the merchant site.For affiliate (Advertisers): The affiliate programs increases the advertisers site traffic. By this he can get any/all of the following advantages:
  • To sell more of your product(s) or service(s).
  • To be able to notify buyers of your new product or service, or offer them a special deal/discount.
  • To spread your ideas about a certain topic.
  • To get people to remember your company’s name! (Incase they wish to have your products or services in the future!)
  • A third person takes cares about your ads etc. So you neednt to use specific (costly) software to calculate all this.
  • He could join as many as he wishes affiliate programs to increase his site traffic.In short advertising on the Web with banners means more sales and/or more influence!

    For Site owners (Publisher): By the affiliate programs the publisher has the following benefits:

  • He can make money using the high traffic of his/her site.
  • He could join as many as he wishes affiliate programs to increase his income.
  • He could select any of the plans from a huge plans list.For affiliate programmer (Middle man): He can get commission from the advertiser according to agreement. Thus larger no. of clients means more money.

    Author: Amit Doda
    Article Source: EzineArticles.com
    Provided by: Canada duty tariff

    • Tags: , , ,

    Obtaining Venture Capital For Business Startup

    Aug 30

    Posted by Rebecca Game in business | No Comments

    If you are an inventor or an entrepreneur, obtaining venture capital funding is most likely a major concern for you and your business. During the dot com boom, venture capitalists were fueling the growth, research, and ventures of many new companies. Now that the dot com boom has cooled, those worried about obtaining venture capital for business startup may have a more difficult time securing funding for their budding business.

    Venture capital money can come in many different forms. There are actually companies that specialize in researching new companies to invest in, in order to earn a modest return on their investors money. These companies receive thousands of requests for funding monthly and may decide to fund one to two small start-ups a month. Some venture capital companies specialize in specific projects such as real estate or a technology based company. Many large, corporate construction projects are funded via some sort of venture capital agreement.

    Another way to obtain venture capital for a business start up is through angel investors. An angel investor can be an individual or a group of investors that gather in order to decide which businesses have the most likely hood of succeeding. Once a business has been selected, the paperwork is drafted for the loan agreement and the business start up is funded by the individual or group angel investors. This method of obtaining venture capital for business startup may also be called hard money or hard money lending.

    Recently, obtaining venture capital for business startup has come to reality television. The reality show focused on inventors that had developed a product for introduction to the retail market. The investor was coached and given seed money in order to fully develop their product. This competition played out over several months on reality television with a winner being chosen at the end. The winner was chose based upon how the judges rated the potential retail market success of the inventors product. This reality show was a neat little twist to the venture capital process.

    If all of this has you a bit concerned or confused about obtaining venture capital for business startup, there is a bit of good news. The good news is that there is still capital available. If you have a solid business plan or product that you are seeking funding for, your chances are relatively high of getting the funding that you need. Venture capitalists may not be throwing money around like they once were but there is still money available for those that are deemed fit via a solid business plan.

    Author: Rebecca Game
    Article Source: EzineArticles.com
    Provided by: Canada duty rates

    Tags: , , ,

    Team Building Events and Exercises

    Aug 23

    Posted by Robin Chandler in business | No Comments

    This document is all about understanding teams and team building training; the purpose of team building activities; why corporate team building events can be effective; planning a team building strategy; building creative teams.

    Why have a team building activity or event?

    This is a phrase we hear a lot these days: ‘we need some kind of teambuilding activity’. Corporate team building events are on the increase: everyone seems to be having them these days. But are they living up to expectations?

    See, from our point of view, often the people talking about team building don’t really know what they mean.

    The reality is, that many, if not most, team building activities don’t work. They should. All that thought, effort, money, planning should make your team building event exciting, worthwhile and productive.

    It’s as if we all know that teams are good. We understand the sum of the parts thing, but we don’t quite know how to make a team work in the way we’d like it to, so we think, ‘My team isn’t working as well as it could; a team building will sort it all out.’

    Why a team building event?

    When people say they want a team building event their picture is of this perfectly working group of people. But they don’t take the time to pin that picture down and really get clear what the issues are. If they did that then their team building activity would certainly help them get their team working more effectively.

    So, before you can even tackle the ‘how’ you need to tackle the ‘why’.

    Here are some questions that will help you clarify ‘why a team building event’.

    Do you want people working better together?

    Do you want to set new team goals and agreements?

    Do you need to iron out communication difficulties that have crept in?

    Do you want a jolly – to reward the team for being terrific?

    Do you simply want to get everyone’s creative juices going and brainstorm new ideas?

    Do you need to set clear parameters and boundaries so everyone knows what’s expected of them?

    Do you want to inject some fresh enthusiasm and energy into a group that’s been working too hard and may have lost sight of the goal posts?

    Have the goals posts moved and you need to let everyone know that?

    Benefits of team building activity

    A good corporate team building event can tackle many of the challenges facing your team. There are real payoffs and advantages to being part of a well-functioning team. To begin with, it’s just pleasanter being around people who get on.

    More importantly, real benefits include:

    A feeling of identity

    On-going support

    Creative pooling of ideas

    Increased confidence

    Things tend to work better as a result of team effort

    You aren’t alone

    Goals that make sense

    You don’t have to keep reinventing the wheel

    If you do have to reinvent the wheel for some reason, so is everyone else in the team

    A team building training can address a huge range of issues you may be facing and certainly make work a better place to be.

    How teams work

    What is a team?

    It may help you decide what your team building activity is going to look like if you understand a bit more about how teams work. And, get this – no matter what the books say (and there are plenty of them) – every single team is different: there is no model you can follow that will create the perfect team.

    You’ll read that you need ideas people, drivers, completer-finishers, etc., etc., etc. And yes, possibly you do need a variety of ‘types’. But for our money, the ‘types’ are far less important than ensuring that your team knows why it exists and what its aims are.

    So let’s look first at just exactly what being a team means. You might think that the very word ‘team’ is clear in and of itself: a group of people working towards shared goals. We wish it were that straightforward. As it isn’t, we thought we would unpick it a bit.

    Sports teams

    The most obvious kind of team that everyone knows about is a sports team. Every team member is on the same side trying to beat the opposition. They train together, get to understand how to make the most of each other’s skills, and when working well, they are able to fulfil the manager or coach’s strategy.

    They know who their opposition is and they have very clear goals. Yes, there may be personality quirks and differences, but the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.

    Work teams

    However, it’s not quite so straightforward when it comes to work teams, though, is it? Personalities, which in a sporting context might get absorbed by the team for the good of the game, often take centre stage in the workplace.

    The oddest thing of all, of course, is that it’s not always clear who the ‘opposition’ is. You’d think it would be the competition – whoever your closest corporate rival is. Unfortunately, far too often, the opposition turns out to be right at home base: another team or department, the ‘management’ or someone sitting right beside you.

    The common enemy

    Now the thing about ‘opposition’ is that it gives a common focus, a common ‘enemy’ if you will. Now that’s great if it’s productive. Creative ideas can pour out of a group when they have to figure out how to handle the competition.

    However, when the common enemy is someone or some group or some department, or the ‘them’ and ‘they’ are within the same company, the results are divisiveness, gossip, complaining. The end result of this is, of course, a loss of productivity and people working against, not for each other.

    Then it’s all about ‘them’ and ‘us’, with people running around using their energies to get more of ‘us’ to agree just what’s wrong with ‘them’. We see this in company after company after company – people are spending vast amounts of time and energy having a ‘go’ at each other rather than using that same amount of time and energy to make things work better.

    This is one of the key reasons why team building is such a hot topic. People can easily recognise that something needs to be done, but they aren’t quite sure what.

    Defining your team

    Kinds of teams

    These days we see a lot of ‘virtual’ teams – people who hardly ever see each other, or even work in the same office or even the same country.

    Then there are teams that all sit in an open plan space and chat with each other all day as things arise.

    There are teams where people sit in separate spaces and get together once a day/week/fortnight.

    There are teams that seem to do all their communicating via e-mail or conference calls.

    There are teams that work on projects together and others where people go off and do their own thing and come together every once in a while to report and bring everyone else up to date.

    Whatever your team looks like, however, it still has to be able to function well and achieve its goals.

    What teams aren’t

    They don’t have to be a family

    People don’t have to be bosom buddies

    People don’t even have to like each enough to want to have dinner together

    Teams aren’t group therapy

    Teams can, however, on occasion, be any or all of those things.

    Team building training

    Effective team building

    Teams are complex machines and it’s not surprising that they malfunction occasionally or need re-alignment. Every once in a while all teams need an MOT, so of course, you want to ensure that your team building event is as effective as it can be.

    The one thing that everyone recognises is that your team building activity needs to be done away from the office environment. The idea is to slow things right down; to get away from e-mails, phone calls, questions and demands, being asked to pop into unscheduled meetings, people dropping by.

    It means getting away from all the day-to-day stuff that sometimes makes it hard to see what’s going on and what’s needed.

    Here are a few hints and tips to make planning your team building event more effective:

    Everyone needs to have some input into what the team building event should accomplish

    Listen carefully to people’s concerns and incorporate them in the team building training

    No one should ever be put on the spot or humiliated

    People shouldn’t be forced to do things they don’t want to

    People learn better when they’re having fun

    Focus on the positives of the team rather than just what isn’t working

    Team building activities

    Once you know what you want your event to achieve, then you can decide what it’s going to look like. You can do the go-carting thing, the throwing people off Welsh mountains thing. You can have the cosy get-away in a country hotel thing. You can have it non-stop fun, be business focused or have a bit of both.

    There are hundreds of different team building exercises, games, workshops, courses, all designed to get your team working better and handling the day-to-day challenges in the workplace.

    There is no ‘right’ kind of team building activity, only the one that’s right for you.

    The key always is to ensure that your event has a positive effect on the morale, motivation, confidence and effectiveness of the team and its individual members.

    Author: Robin Chandler
    Article Source: EzineArticles.com
    Provided by: Canada duty rate

    Tags: , , , ,

    Real Estate Commission – A Corrupting Influence

    Aug 18

    Posted by Peter Mericka in real estate | No Comments

    Real estate commission is the way in which real estate agents are paid for the services they provide. They receive a percentage of the price received for the property. Effectively, the real estate agent requires the seller of a property (the vendor) to sign over to the real estate agent a part of the property being sold.

    Another way of looking at it is to say that the real estate agent, through the wording of the listing contract, effectively has his name added to the title deed of the vendors property, so that the real estate agent becomes a part-owner of the property. When the property sells, the real estate agent receives a payment that represents his share in the vendors property.

    Most readers will be aware of the arguments in favour of real estate sale commissions, so I wont discuss those here. My focus is on the ways in which the sale process can be skewed against all parties involved, when the motivation to win a commission takes precedence over more important considerations.

    Commission is a winner-takes-all, loser gets nothing situation. This increases the pressure on the real estate agent to secure a sale. Time is also a problem. If the real estate agent cannot secure a sale within a time acceptable to the vendor, the vendor may take the property off the market, or away from the real estate agents agency. This will result in a total loss for the real estate agent.

    Finally, the vendor becomes an obstacle between the real estate agent and his commission goal. In order to receive payment for his share of the vendors property, the real estate agent must receive an offer to purchase within the available time, but the offer must be accepted by the vendor. If the vendor decides that the offer is not acceptable, then the real estate agent loses.

    In order to win the gambling game that is real estate sales, the real estate agent may decide to tip the odds in his favour and there are numerous ways in which this can be done.

    At the listing stage the real estate agent may use improper means to win the listing contract. These include over-quoting on valuation, and offering dodgy sales figures.

    During the sale process the real estate agent may be tempted to tell potential purchasers things that are untrue. I have seen many sale contracts with clauses designed to protect real estate agents against the consequences of false statements. Known as porkies clauses, they invariably state that the purchaser acknowledges that any information provided to the purchaser by the real estate agent is provided on the understanding that the purchaser will not be relying on it for any purpose.

    When a purchaser has submitted an offer, and the purchaser cannot be convinced to increase her offer, the real estate agent may be tempted to pressure the vendor into accepting what would otherwise be unacceptable. Observations, such as the market has softened or the market has spoken to us are used by real estate agents to convince vendors that the real estate agents high estimation of value can no longer be relied upon, and that the vendor should now accept what the vendor believes is an unacceptably low offer.

    For some years now, I have been arguing that real estate services should be provided on a fee-for-service basis.

    I will explore the replacement of real estate sale commissions with a fee-for-service structure further in future articles.

    Author: Peter Mericka
    Article Source: EzineArticles.com
    Provided by: Programmable Pressure Cooker

    Tags: , , , , , , ,

    Contact Us

    *required fields

    Thank you. Your message has been sent.
    There was an error while sending your message. Please try again later.
    Plugin by psd to wordpress Solutions.
    This site is protected by WP-CopyRightPro