Famous Business Strategies

Either simply a looker-on or a player in the world of business, you see millions piling into the accounts of world's most famous businessmen and naturally the question pops "How?", wondering what is the alchemy they've discovered? Yet, there is no magic here - it's mostly pure strategy. And what it takes to spot it and make it real.

Strategy

Identifying the best strategy for your business is the key to all success.

It should give you the lift that makes a difference. The art for your strategy success is planning.

• settling a vision for your business
• defining a mission
• setting out objectives
• establishing values, goals and programs.

Vision

It is all there, it is all important, but first there is the vision.

So, is vision a spark, is it a moment? How much is inspiration and how much hard work? Is it 99% perspiration and only 1% inspiration? Can we all be geniuses?

According to Edison's theory I would say yes, if we are committed to hard working, as it is primarily the hard work that makes a genius. Inspiration comes on the way, when involved in as much action as you can handle. Contrary to the conceptual meaning, inspiration seems to be driven by propitious conditions - in this case, by work.

Hard work

So, what really happens behind the fairy-tale success stories is usually not what some would expect - a brilliant, extraordinary, never heard of discovery that changed the world, but, disappointingly enough, plain hard work. What these people have is what I would call "industry intelligence". How is it acquired? Working of course. That is, sharply aware of their industry environment, learning all the rules and deeply involved in their own businesses, success people have at some point of activity a vision for their business that proves to be a winner - the revelation naturally produced as a result of their work commitment.

Let's take the example of three American legends: Sam Walton, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. What do they have in common? The winning vision, the winning strategy.

Sam Walton

In the case of Sam Walton, no new, innovative business models were launched. He followed the existing low-price retailing pattern but the competitive successful strategic approach was that instead of focusing on large cities he took his business to small towns becoming the low-price leader in rural towns.

Warren Buffet

Warren Buffett's success resides in his different approach to value investing. While usually investors look for stocks they believe undervalued by the market, Buffett does not take into consideration the stock market aspects, such as for instance the supply and demand ratio. He analyzes the stocks on the basis of their potential as companies. He is interested in long-term results, such as ownership in companies with capacity of generating money, namely, companies with a strong name, great historical results, strong management and industry expertise.

Bill Gates

Neither is the case of Bill Gates to have made extraordinary innovations. Rather than innovation, he had the ability to put together other people's ideas, thus producing big hits and making a profit. He did that first when adjusting BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800 (first PC) - neither of which was his original creation. Then, the same happened with DOS, which Microsoft bought (the original version was QDOS) and adjusted.

Business strategies implementation

Then, action comes. As the saying goes, planning without action is futile, action without planning is fatal. It takes guts to act boldly and take whatever risks are necessary to put your vision into practice. It takes a great deal of tenacity to surpass obstacles and get over unfortunate happenings on the way. So, how did they implement their planned strategies? What was the outcome, what principles resulted for them to base their businesses on?

Warren Buffet

For the implementation of his strategy, Buffett has drawn his company choice principles, involving a great deal of analysis of business, management, financial aspects and a great deal of patience, waiting for the right price once the possible investment has been identified.

On businesses

• simple and understandable
• consistent operating history
• favorable long-term prospects

On management

• rationality in treatment of retained earnings and investment of company profits
• disclosure of all aspects of company performances
• capacity of thinking independently of other managers' way of thinking.

On financials

• look for return on equity, not earnings per share
• analysis of free cash flow growth
• unique niche companies with high profit margins
• look for companies with at least one dollar of market value for every dollar retained

On stock valuation

• reasonable price for the company
• stock valuation analysis followed by analysis of a possible significant discount, case in which it will be purchased.

Success depends on the investor's dedication to learn and follow the principles.

Sam Walton

He gives his ten rules for success in the book "Made in America, My Story":

1. commitment to business
2. profit sharing with partners
3. partners' motivation, competition encouragement
4. total communication with partners, trigerring their commitment
5. giving appreciation to what your partners do for the business
6. keeping spirits up in celebrating success but also in treating failures with a touch of humor
7. listening to everyone in the company, encouraging their talking
8. a sustained exceptional relationship with the customer - exceeding his expectations, showing appreciation, apologizing for mistakes
9. finding a competitive advantage in controlling expenses
10. originality, doing things differently there is a good chance to find unexplored niches.

Bill Gates

Microsoft's corporate mission "A computer on every desk and in every home" shortly became a reality. Offering an easily accessible operating system for computers, perceiving the importance of customizing their product to the ordinary client and not only to computer 

engineers and thus addressing masses, Bill Gates succeeded in putting together and promoting towards a tremendous popularity (and profit accordingly) the world's dominant operating system.

What these people have in common is nevertheless an extraordinary ingenuity: they innovated their industry domain, building their own strategy tailored for their own business particularities and went further to its implementation. 

Finance Your Real Estate Investment Properties

Unlike traditional residential real estate mortgages, real estate investment financing is way more creative and offers more options than you think. The golden rule in real estate investment is OPM (Other People’s Money).

I have enough money; shouldn’t I buy my real estate investment for cash? No, I absolutely advice against investing large sums of cash into a single real estate investment. There are two reasons why not. First, you give away most of your profits by not leveraging your real estate investment. Second, it is far too risky to put every egg into one basket.

Let me explain the leverage issue for a moment. I will give you an example of a $100,000 investment property that typically increases its value (appreciates) by 7% average a year. Maybe more, maybe less depending where you live. Paying all cash for this property will yield in a 7% appreciation profit plus the net profit from renting the place. Now you’re looking at roughly 15% of returns.

If you’re conservative with your investments you might be satisfied with this kind of a return. These days you might get equal or better returns with other conservative investments minus the hassle of being a landlord. But you don’t mind being a landlord, because you understand and utilize the leveraging method with financing your real estate investment.

With the example above you will make roughly $15,000 a year in profits from your investment. Now let’s take a closer look at what leveraging can do for you. Today a typical real estate investor can get financing as high as 95% - 97% of the purchase price. Occasionally 100% financing is available as well. But this would be totally unfair in this example to compare this with all cash purchasing.

15% return sounds like a lot, but wait till you see this. Let’s assume that the rental income will cover all your expenses including the mortgage payments. Taking the same example from before your net return would be the 7% appreciation profits of your property. This would translate into a $7,000 a year profit. With a 95% financing in place you would get $7,000 return on $5,000 (your 5% down payment) invested. This is a whopping 140% return on investment.
With the same $100,000 you can go out there and get 20 investment properties, finance 95% of it and make an amazing $140,000 profit a year. This beats the projected $15,000 profits with an all cash transaction any day.

Of course you will have a lot of trouble to get financing for 20 properties in a single year. Typically 5-6 new rental property mortgages are the maximum lenders will allow these days. This is the signal to get creative with your financing structures.
In this case sellers financing would be your key to achieve your goal of maximum leverage of your investment dollars. Despite the message from all these late night infomercials, seller financing is harder to get than they want you to make believe it is.
It all depends on the seller’s ability to offer seller financing and the seller’s motivation. Only about 1 out of 20 properties for sale are able to get seller financing. That means that there’s no mortgage balance on the property. From this narrow selection the seller must be motivated to sell under these conditions. This could be tax reasons, time constraints, personal reasons and many more.

As you can see this translates into a lot of work to achieve your goals. But let me tell you one thing. This separates the tire kicker real estate investors from the real go-getters. Wouldn’t you agree that a little bit of hard work and determination is well worth it to build a real estate empire?

I think it is well worth the trouble and hard work. At the end of the day you keep building your real estate investment portfolio and sooner than later you will be able to cash in.

Financial Plainning

If you’re shopping for financial planning services, it may seem like a jungle out there. There are advertisements everywhere, and everybody seems “nice,” but nice won’t cut it when it comes to your money. How can you cut to the chase and find a financial planning expert that you can trust.

Start by learning what the different designations mean. You may have noticed that there are three popular financial designations that most financial planners hold. You’ll want to choose one with one of the following designations.

Like many CPA‘s, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) must attend about two years of training and pass a rigorous test. This designation is given by the Certified Financial Planning Board of Standards, a national organization. After two years of preparatory courses, a Certified Financial Planner must earn a passing grade on a ten-hour test given over the course of two days. The Financial Planning Association can provide you with a listing of Certified Financial Planners.

You may have also encountered some Chartered Financial Consultants. These graduates of American College in Pennsylvania have completed a series of exams and obtained real life experience before earning their designation. However, the program is geared more toward the insurance profession than broad based financial planning. The Society of Financial Professionals can provide you with a listing of these consultants.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants offers its own designation, a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS). Certified Public Accountants can earn this additional designation by completing a series of comprehensive tests and demonstrate experience in financial planning. Most of these designates are members of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, and they can refer you to a PFS in your area.

All of the above certifying agencies require at least three years of experience prior to certification. Other designations do exist, but these three are the most reliable. Since many unscrupulous individuals decide to call themselves “financial planners,” you’d be wise to look for one with a certification from a nationally recognized organization.

Since the Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t regulate smaller financial advisors (those with under $25 Million under advisement), it is up to you to screen your financial planner carefully.

Ask your planner for a copy of Form ADV, Part II. If you aren’t familiar with the form, they will be. This form is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission from every financial planner and should spell out how and what the planner will be paid and any incentives they may earn. Sometimes they will provide this information in brochure or pamphlet form, but you’ll know up front what your fees will be.

Finally, check references. A reputable planner won’t mind giving you a few references to call. Find out if they handle portfolios similar to yours and if the client is satisfied with their services. Ask about fees.

It’s your future, so doing a little homework up front and making sure that you‘re getting what you pay for is well worth it in the long run. Make sure that your financial planner holds a nationally recognized designation and check him out before you hand over your hard earned money. Your time and effort is a wise investment when shopping for a financial planner.

Best Resources for Entrepreneurs

1. Small business association

The small business association remains the best asset for anyone jumping into the field of entrepreneurship. They offer planners, services, tools and local resources. In addition to their content on their website, the entrepreneur can also access a free e-newsletter as well. They offer free online training and different types of government assisted business loans. With the small business association, everything needed to start up a business is at your fingertips. They offer free resources not only for those who are striving to start a business, but they also assist those who have already started their own business as well.

2. Score

Score offers online workshops, from business planning with a snapshot business plan to helping to determine if you can afford to start up your own business. They also provide workshops in making your new business competitive with making the best decision on prices, analyzing competition targeting the right market and creating a competitive advantage above other companies in that field. In addition, they provide workshops in growing, marketing and maintaining your business as well. They also provide extensive how to resources on all aspects of starting and maintaining your business without having to go through the workshops. Their business tools section feature templates for business plans and cash flow plans.

3. Entrepreneurship

This website offers the new entrepreneur tips, articles and resources on all aspects of entrepreneurship. They provide articles on every fundamental aspect of starting up a company, from start up costs and finding investors, to how and who to hire for your new business. They also offer comprehensive data on how to handle situations that can arise when a customer is not satisfied with the services provided. They also offer a wide range of legal resources necessary to starting and maintaining a business. They also provide a blog where new business owners can connect to others who are also becoming entrepreneurs with their own company..

4. Stanford University

Stanford has always been one of the top colleges nationwide for entrepreneurs to attend. Now, they also offer resources for those who did not attend the school but want the resources available. The website offers online lectures, free of charge on many different aspects of entrepreneurship. These topics include Creativity and innovation, opportunity recognition, product development, marketing and sales, finance and venture capital, leadership and adversity, globalization, social entrepreneurship and career and life balance. In addition, they add new videos every day to help the entrepreneur achieve their goals, whether they attend Stanford, another college or have no formal training at all.

5. Forbes

Forbes offer all entrepreneurs tips and tricks through their in depth articles on boosting business, financing businesses, human resources, business laws and taxes, different new, promising companies, sales and marketing and management. They offer numerous other articles as well, such as “millionaire high school dropouts”, and “the greatest risks they ever took”. These articles help to encourage the entrepreneur who may think that since they do not have formal training, they can still succeed, as well as teaching them that sometimes when you take a big risk; it will pay off the biggest as well.

6. Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur offers resources on many aspects of starting up a business. From franchise opportunities to growing your business, they offer a wide range of resources to any entrepreneur. This website offers free informative articles on a wide range of topics including online businesses, management, home based businesses, human resources, money, marketing, advertising and more. In addition, when one of these topics is chosen, there are numerous sub categories as well, making it easy for anyone to find exactly what they are looking for. More great features for this website are the entrepreneur magazine that is available online and in print, and the entire site is also available on most mobile devices so the entrepreneur can take it when they are on the go.

7. Bloomberg Business week

Bloomberg’s business week has numerous articles available online for aspiring entrepreneurs to use as resources. While this was normally available in print only, it is now available online as well. The online version has resources from different articles, with the resources and links needed embedded in them, but also numerous resources about the new health care reform act and how this will affect new entrepreneurs. This website also offers an application on the IPod as well, making finding the information the entrepreneur needs on the go easily accessible.

8. Kauffman foundation

Kauffman is one of the largest foundations today, specializing in growth and advancement of entrepreneurs. They offer resources to youth and minorities who want to become entrepreneurs. They have resources on how to overcome obstacles in this turbulent economy, as well as resources to gain capital from donors. They also have links provided to other resources that are there to help entrepreneurs as well. Kauffman.org believes that science and technology is the foundation for all entrepreneurs and they are constantly adding new articles relating to their research on helping young entrepreneurs discover their scientifically minds.

9. The National Venture Capital Association

The NVCA offers resources for entrepreneurs to fund the capital needed to start up a business. They provide resources to research as well as current statistics. They also offer webcasts that are on topics related to venture capital and how to create more of it. In addition, they also offer videos related to venture capital as well. While this is a great site for gaining capital, that is the only thing that it has to offer, it is not a full service website that offers resources for all aspects of entrepreneurship.

10. PA Food Ventures

PA food ventures are a wonderful resource for any entrepreneur that is interested in the food industry. While it does not cater to all businesses, it offers an extensive range of resources from how to start a food business to the state and federal regulations as well as ingredients, safety and sanitation, equipment needed and links to various resources as well. PA food ventures are part of the Penn State University website.

Starting a Business in London

Starting a new business in any large city is going to have its own set of challenges and excitement compared to a smaller town, and London is no different. With a sprawling metropolitan area and a number of large suburbs all within the M25 circle, London is arguably the best and the most rewarding place to set up a new business. Making sure you have a realistic set of goals will ensure that setting up a new business in the capital will be both successful and profitable.

London mayor Boris Johnson said last year at a Business Link event that small and medium sized businesses will help to pull London out of the recession, while the government has also commented that small businesses and entrepreneurs are to be helped towards setting up their own businesses and achieving their potential. Mr Johnson pointed out that tourism is probably one of the most influential sectors in London and that with the Olympics just around the corner, this can only continue to grow.

These findings were backed up by the Barclays Business Regional Impact Index, which showed that London is the region where small businesses can make the biggest impact on the economy. The survey looked at profitability, growth projection, employment and innovation. London led the way in all of these categories.

So, it appears that on the surface the capital is one of the best places in the country to set up a new business. It has a large population, a diverse culture and a steady stream of people coming and going from its central area. But what might the potential challenges of setting up a business in London be?

One of the most important aspects to bear in mind is the overhead costs associated with working in a large city. Rents will be more expensive and it may be worth considering working from home if at all possible. Taking advantage of virtual office space in the central city area will still allow you to present a corporate image without having to spend money on full time premises.

Having staff is also more expensive than elsewhere. Living costs in London are generally more expensive and travel costs to the capital can be prohibitive, so employees come at a premium. You will usually have to pay a London supplement to your staff members.

Travel costs and logistics in London will also be a costly factor. Simply transporting your goods from one side of the capital to the other, let alone across the country or the World, can be hugely expensive. You need to consider both the congestion charge and the heavy goods vehicles charge. These costs will have to be passed to your customers.

One of the benefits of starting a business in London is that there is a wealth of information available to you from a number of agencies. You can try the London Development Agency, the City of Westminster website or Business Link for good practical advice on starting a business in the capital.

The CityLocal franchise is available in London and offers franchisees a whole borough as an exclusive territory. Positives of the CityLocal franchise for the capital include: a huge target market and the potential for earning significant money in a home based business that has exceptionally low overheads. If you are looking to start a business you must think carefully about CityLocal before investing in any other opportunities.

Starting a Successful Arcade Business

Establishing a profitable arcade business is harder than it used to be now that most people have very good and affordable games consoles. An arcade business can be set up in one of two ways; either online with Internet-based games or on premises with the arcade games set up on their own respective machines. Both of them entail different strategies in terms of cost and setting up.

Choosing to set up an arcade game business online may be the cheapest option, but you will still need to do a lot of initial preparation. Although it may cost a little bit more to begin with, hiring a team of Web developers may be a good idea. They will be responsible for creating and designing your website and making sure your game software is running properly.

The next step is to make sure that your website is properly marketed. Part of this process is called search engine optimisation (SEO) and will ensure that your site ranks higher in search engine results. However, this will require a fair amount of research as you want to double check the integrity of your choice. After some thought, you should pick the option that you feel will be the best for you and your business. For best results, don't be afraid to pay for your advertisements as online arcade games are still very popular and it will not take long for your site to attract customers, especially if you start by offering a few free games.

Alternatively, if you are thinking about opening an actual arcade with new top of the range arcade games, you will need to spend a lot more time planning. Although arcade machines can be bought from online stores such as eBay, you will need to set yourself a reasonably high budget to begin with, because don't forget you also need to acquire premises. If you are a little short on money, then apply for a loan with your local bank with a detailed copy of your business plan, but only choose your premises and machines after detailed research. You want to choose a prime location that is going to guarantee customers as the success of a business venture often depends on its location.

Once you have been accepted for your business loan and you have found suitable premises, you need to come up with a catchy and unique name for your business. Then you need to think about decorating your arcade, as well as marketing and advertising. Get in touch with your local newspaper and radio stations and see if they will be interested in covering your grand opening. Visit a copy shop and design leaflets to hand out; they can often be printed in bulk for reasonable prices.

The final step is to employ some staff to help you manage the games and customers while you take care of the finances. Start off with just one or two people and as your business grows, you can put out advertisements for more prospective employees.

When opening day arrives, really go all out with banners, balloons and maybe some snacks for your younger customers. It may be a good idea to offer the chance for them to play the games for free for the grand opening, so that you attract a lot of potential customers.

Financing Your Franchise Business

Establishing a franchise is becoming one of the most popular ways to start a new business, and it's also among the best methods of setting your business plans in motion. Franchising is possibly one of the most secure and ideal ways for new entrepreneurs to quickly enter the business arena.

When you are looking to finance a franchise, your first stop should be your local bank. It may be a good idea to approach your bank and ask about the options it has available for financing franchises. Seeing as you already have a financial relationship with them, it may be a good idea to see if they are eager to advise you about their lending options. Most high street banks will have specialist franchise units that can give advice on services and products that are adapted specifically for financing franchises.

While high street banks do look favourably on lending to new entrepreneurs, they will still expect you to raise at least 30 to 50 per cent of the costs yourself, along with you presenting a business plan and yourself successfully.

If you get hold of an application form, it is important that you fill in all the sections in as much detail as possible. The more information you provide, the better you will look to the bank. If you are not thorough enough, the bank will be uncertain about how your money will be used.

It is also crucial to include a thorough business plan. This is important when starting any type of business as it will tell the bank, and also yourself when referring to it in the future, what your goals are and how you will accomplish them. It helps you to calculate your budget, which will help you a lot when you approach the bank for money. Although there are many websites and guides on the Internet that can help you construct a strong business plan, a complete one should include an intimate and technical study of the business you plan to go into, projections and cost analyses, calculated estimates of working capital and a suitable marketing plan. If you are unfamiliar with writing a business plan, then seek professional advice or consult business software that you're able to download online.

Also, it is beneficial if you have a good credit rating as there are three main criteria that banks look at when assessing your credit rating: stability, income and track record. They will also examine your income and whether this amount is a suitable living wage, because if you cannot handle your own personal finances then they are unlikely to think you can be trusted to manage a business.

Through assessing your credit rating the banks are able to explore how successful you've been in paying off past debts. If you have a record of not keeping up with payments, repossessions and so on, you should get these sorted before asking for a loan because they could really damage your chances of business success. With the correct support, your entrepreneurial spirit will be nurtured and good progress can be made.

Interested in owning a successful internet business? Have a look at the CityLocal franchises. They help you raise finance to start a residual income business from home.