Investors are waiting for the next great business idea

Investors Are Waiting For the Next Great Business Idea

What they may not realize is there are many people in the business world waiting for people just like them. They are looking for people with both passion and a solidified plan, who are without funds to make their dream a reality. People who are already successful will often provide startup capital or venture capital to someone to help them begin their dream of owning and operating their small business.

Venture capital, or VC, is money provided by a person or business to another person or business to help them start their business. It is typically provided to businesses that are in the early stages of growth and have a high potential for growth. The providers of venture capital will often exchange their money for shares in the company. Although they may believe greatly in the company or business, most venture capital investments are not made for entirely altruistic reasons.

The person providing the money, the venture capitalist, expects to have a substantial return on their investment. The person or company that goes looking for VC is often a young company without an established history. They are far too small to raise the money they are looking for through IPO’s, stock issuance, or other standard ways larger companies raise cash. Neither are they able to secure a loan from a bank.

Venture capitalists are constantly approached by people with new business ideas. However they will typically reject the large majority of opportunities that are shown to them. Most simply do not have the combination of rare qualities and potential for growth. A good business model and an excellent management team are also important requirements.

Venture capitalists do not make a living by throwing money at every person who approaches them. They evaluate every opportunity critically and those that do not match their unique criteria will be rejected. Several key things need to be in place before a venture capitalist will invest in a business. A solid business strategy is one of the first keys to securing VC.

Without it, most people will be rejected before their first meeting. Succession planning is also quite important to a venture capitalist. Pumping money into a business without a backup person who knows how to run the company is a bad idea at best. Finally, a group who has a mentor on their team will greatly increase their chances at securing VC.

Although a new company may have a great idea, their lack of experience can be the single greatest inhibiting factor in their pursuit of VC. Finding a mentor with established and successful business experience who will help guide them will greatly increase their chances of securing VC. It will practically ensure the future success of their business. Mentors are also valuable for helping to determine a real value for the business so that one doesn’t ask for too much, or worse, too little when the time comes.

Venture capital comes from a variety of sources. They make their living by providing both capital as well as marketing, small business consultants, and in some cases, mentors. Family and friends are a tried and true source of venture capital. Turning to them can be a last resort because things can get messy, especially if the business fails.

The oft-searched for but not often found angel investor, or someone who can provide the seed money is an option too. They will determine whether a new idea is viable or not, however finding such an investor can be next to impossible. While nothing can ever be certain, making sure a budding small business has a solid business plan is a very basic requirement. A good marketing plan, potential for growth, and realistic expectations are good steps in the path to securing venture capital.

Legitimate work at home jobs — guarantees

Legitimate Work at Home Jobs — Guarantees?

One of the best things you can do for your legitimate work at home job also happens to be the one thing that makes all business owners scared to death: offering a guarantee. Sure you want to let your customers know that they can trust you, but you dont want to run yourself into the ground doing so. Offering guarantees help legitimize work at home jobs.

Depending on the type of work at home job you operate you may be able to get away with a conditional guarantee. Now while conditional guarantees work best for a legitimate work at home job that provides a service such a class or consultation they can also be applied to product where there is a limited time for you to claim the guarantee.

Time limit: Were all accustomed to this type of guarantee since most businesses use it. If youre not satisfied you can return the item with a certain time period for a refund or exchange example: Return for full refund within 10 day of purchase. This is a good guarantee to offer if your selling an e-product such an ebook or DVDs. Time limit helps people stop sitting on the fence and make that move.

Repair or replacement only: This guarantee includes an assurance that the item will work, rather than a satisfaction guaranteed claim. In the event that the item does not work the guarantor will replace or repair the item. This guarantee works if you’re selling hardware or software as your legitimate work at home job. If people know that your hardware of software doesnt work you will fix it or replace it.

Liability limit: Most businesses do not like this type of guarantee but it should be used especially in situations where the customer can claim secondary damages. In this case the guarantee takes the form of a liability limit. If you are running a legitimate work at home job where you are subject to copyright laws then a liability limit guarantee would be very beneficial.

Usage condition: For some products you may want to write the guarantee that states when used according to instructions or providing it has not be dropped or abused. This is often used for fragile items. But some people who operate a legitimate work at home job where they offer classes sometimes use this as well.

The law requires, for all conditional guarantees, that you label limitations precisely. Online, the guarantee must be in a location where the customer can read it. It can not be hidden or in extremely small font. Also, your guarantee has to be read therefore most people will put the guarantee directly under the sales page or on a separate page that the customer would see during the ordering process.

A conditional guarantee is a great way to establish yourself a legitimate work at home job without driving your business into the ground. You want to enhance your ability to sell your prospects on your legitimate work at home job without driving you crazy.

It was just a misunderstanding

It Was Just a Misunderstanding

It was just a misunderstanding… that’s not what I meant…. Have you heard those, or similar statements, recently? If you have, then you are in the midst of a breakdown in communication. The best leaders are excellent communicators, and they encourage a clear, effective exchange of information in their teams. Yet we often experience confusion and misinterpretation at work (and at home). What is going on? Quite simply, we don’t work at stating our ideas explicitly. We take communication for granted, we get lazy, we get careless—and then, bad things happen.

With all the communication tools at our disposal, we are more at risk than ever for miscommunication. Isn’t it great that email has that «receive receipt» function? I think there is a «read receipt» message also. In using these, we are notified that the receiver of the message did, in fact, get the message from us.

Of course, there is no «understand receipt» to insure that the receiver actually «got» what we were trying to say. When we are face-to-face, body language and changes in pace, tone and vocal inflection help us to determine if our message has been understood. In email, we lose these important visual and aural cues, making successful communication much more difficult. Misunderstandings become frequent, and additional emails meant to clarify can make the even situation worse.

At this point, it would be appropriate to visit the classic (and often misquoted) study on communication by Dr. Albert Mehrabian, Professor Emeritus at UCLA. Dr. Mehrabian examined the process by which people decide whether they like one another. The results of his research tell us that how we say something is critically important to others’ understanding of our message. And, as we noted above, this is precisely the factor that is lost in written communication. Therefore, the more we use such quick and easy means of communicating as email and text messaging, the more at risk we are of being misunderstood.

Don’t get me wrong; I love email. It is a very convenient, efficient, and effective method of sending and receiving information—but sometimes, it just isn’t good enough. I also love looking someone in the eye and seeing that they «get it.» Last week, I flew to San Francisco on short notice for this very reason—to make sure my meaning was received and understood clearly. I didn’t want to fly cross-country for a four-hour meeting, but I did anyway, because it was that important.

How often do you send an email or leave a voice mail when you would be better served by interacting face-to-face? It’s tempting to hide behind email. But vital nuances can easily fall through the cracks. What about your people? I spoke to a friend about this the other day and he said this about his managers, «I tell them to call someone and they send an instant message. They are missing my entire point.»

Misunderstandings cost money. For that reason alone, we must work to eliminate them. Always remember the «understand receipt» function when you are communicating with someone—no matter what method you are using.

Increased compliance burdens are leading to the establishment of more legal process outsourcing firms

Increased Compliance Burdens Are Leading to the Establishment of More Legal Process Outsourcing Firms

Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) services are becoming quite popular these days. One reason behind this is the increase in the number of statutory compliances for corporate organizations.

Lack of transparency and regulation has been identified as one of the factors that engendered the recession which in turn shook the roots of the American economy. Authorities have responded to this by making it mandatory for important financial institutions to maintain certain records to increase transparency. It is perceived that these measures will reduce the chances of another recession hitting the market.

Regulatory requirements

Those who have been keeping a tab on developments in this field will know that private equity advisers and hedge funds have to register their firms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and reveal their books to regulators. Depository institutions will be subject to the bank holding regulations issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. Moreover, the Office of Thrift Supervision (which was the regulator of institutions like IndyMac Bancorp Inc., Washington Mutual Inc., and American International Group Inc.), will be made a part of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Companies that issue mortgages would be required to retain a minimum of 5% of these on their books to discourage improper loans. The new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will have SEC authority and regulatory authority. This agency will ensure that entities which create consumer debt disclose more information.

Apart from recession related issues, energy and healthcare reforms will also impose more compliance burdens on organizations related to those sectors.

Some people argue that these regulations have been imposed to make sure that no institution becomes too big. However, everyone agrees that such regulations will increase legal spending across all corporate organizations.

Advantages of appointing LPO service providers

It is natural that firms will try to outsource as much work as possible because they are already cash strapped. Even the American Bar Association approves legal process outsourcing. The LPO industry is useful for small and medium sized businesses because such organizations find it more difficult to deal with the compliance burden. This is the only way in which they can compete with larger firms within and outside America.

Not only can such firms provide routine, low end legal services, they can also offer services like drafting and reviewing privilege logs, drafting case chronologies, conducting contract analysis, putting together witness binders, drafting head notes & case summaries, and conducting research at the global or multi-state level.

The LPO industry is already quite developed and firms have the advantage of studying partnership models that have worked. Establishing long term relationships with firms that offer legal services from foreign locations is more cost effective because it allows for longer training periods and enables setting up of compliance tracking teams.

Some companies are concerned about the degree of confidentiality and data protection issues in legal process outsourcing firms. However, this should not be a concern because these firms adhere to the standards accepted in USA or UK.

On the whole, LPO seems to be the best option for law firms and corporate bodies because two birds are killed with the same stone: the cumbersome legal requirements are met and expenses are kept low.

Is a merchant account offshore legal

Is A Merchant Account Offshore Legal?

Traveling back from Europe the other, I exchanged business cards with the gentleman sitting next to me. He saw merchant account offshore on my card and said “Isn’t a merchant account offshore illegal or something?” Then one of the other passengers chirped in “Yeah, I hear that a merchant account offshore is a scam. A way for people to launder money or avoid paying taxes.” Both these comment about a merchant account offshore were incorrect, of course. Yet, the reasons for the false beliefs were totally understandable.

The term offshore merchant account has long had a bad rap. Years ago, accounts were set up with banks in small obscure island countries. Hence the term offshore merchant accounts meant the banks were literally offshore. Exotic island locations which few average people have ever seen became suspect. Were the rich people mysteriously squirreling away hoards of cash? Well, a lot has changed since the olden times. And a merchant account offshore no longer refers to some island location

These days, merchant accounts offshore are set up almost everywhere in the world. Switzerland, France, UK, Netherlands, Germany, UK, US, South America, Asia, Pacific Rim, Middle East. You name it. The leading banks in countries around the world avidly compete to establish merchant accounts offshore for companies doing business globally. In fact, world class international banks with recognizable names are now the most common place to establish a merchant account offshore. The term simply refers to an account established in a jurisdiction other than the company’s original country of domicile.

Almost every country in the world wants to profit as much as possible from the vast electronic financial universe in which we all live. Offering a merchant account offshore is just one of many services banks around the world use to attract business customers and their money. There’s no doubt establishing a merchant account offshore can have financial benefits for companies. Certain countries do offer more favorable business conditions than others. You can review those advantages with your business advisers. But laundering money and avoiding taxes is not the reason companies establish a merchant account offshore.

There are obvious advantages for most companies doing business globally to have a merchant account offshore. For example, savings on foreign currency exchange, reduced payment processing fees and redundancy in payment processing facilities to protect business operations are all sound business reasons to set up a merchant account offshore. In these modern days of global ecommerce, a merchant account offshore is no longer anything to hide. In fact, establishing a offshore merchant accounts may be one of the wisest business decisions a company can make.