Business Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development

2009-07-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

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The Slow Decline in price of houses.

2009-06-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

The rate of decline in home prices has slowed, but the foreclosure problem is getting worse despite strengthened efforts to modify unaffordable loans, so any recovery in the housing market is still a ways off. That's the upshot from a pair of reports released on June 30.

In April the seasonally adjusted &&P/Case Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index fell by just 0.9% from the month before, making it the smallest monthly decline since August 2007. That's according to a BusinessWeek calculation using data from Standard & Poor's (MHP). The index in April fell 18.1% from a year earlier, down from an 18.7% year-over-year decline in March, as reported in the S&P press release. (S&P, like BusinessWeek, is a unit of the McGraw-Hill Cos.) The monthly changes ranged widely from declines of 3.7% in Las Vegas, 2.8% in Phoenix, and 1.9% in Miami, to increases of 0.7% each in Dallas and Denver.

How to score a low-rate loan

2009-02-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

In this bleak economy and stagnant, scary housing market, good news is harder to find than a zip code where home values are going up.

But if you plan to stay put in your home and have a decent credit score, one bright spot has been that falling interest rates means it’s a great time to refinance your mortgage, a move that could save you hundreds of dollars every month on your mortgage payment and over the long term, thousands of dollars.

Trouble is, like any good deal, not everyone can qualify. And with loads of people rushing to refinance, even homeowners with a decent credit score are finding out that it can take weeks, even months before a mortgage lender can process a refinancing for you. At least one frustrated homeowner in Denver wrote to me to say she had a nearly two-month wait to refinance from 5.875% to 4.875% on a 30-year fixed mortgage. That backlog ended up costing her nearly $1,000 in fees to hold onto the mortgage rate she and her husband thought they had secured with a 30-day lock back in mid-December.

So, what can you do to make sure you don’t miss out on your refinancing opportunity? First, know whether you can even qualify. Underwriting standards are super strict today, so you must have 20% to 25% equity in your home, a credit score of at least 750 and don’t own a slew of investments properties to qualify for the best rates. Don’t get stuck paying for an appraisal and loan fees only to find out you aren’t eligible. According to Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance newsletter, transaction fees and points have come back in a big way, so you really need to shop around get the best deal. He suggests getting at least three quotes and running the numbers to make sure the cost of refinancing will pay off for you. Try a calculator like this one at CNNMoney.com. A general rule of thumb is that you need to cover all your closing costs with the savings from your refi within two years.

Start with your existing lender but call all the major institutions in your area as well as small mortgage brokers to weigh bids. Unfortunately, lenders are in the driver’s seat these days. But if you belong to a credit union that does mortgage loans, that could be the best option of all. Cecala says he knows two lawyers who recently were able to refinance their mortgages with their credit unions, snagging favorable rates and paying no junk transaction fees or points. It’s just another reason to love credit unions.

Ford: Electric van in 2010

2009-02-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

Ford Motor Co. will introduce its first all-electric vehicle in 2010, but it will be intended for business owners - not families. The electric Transit Connect, a small van, will be offered in "select" U.S. Ford dealerships.

"The new Transit Connect light commercial vehicle with battery electric power represents the next logical step in our pursuit of even greater fuel economy and sustainability," said Derrick Kuzak, Ford's group vice president for global product development in a company announcement.

The van will able to to travel about 100 miles on a fully charged battery, according to Ford.

The introduction is part of a longer term electric-vehicle strategy that Ford announced at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

The plan also calls for a battery-powered small car in 2011 and "advanced hybrid" and plug-in hybrid vehicles in 2012.

Non-electric Transit Connect vans will go on sale in the U.S. later this year as 2010 model year vehicles. Ford (F, Fortune 500) is marketing the van, which is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, as a more fuel-efficient and space-efficient alternative to larger work vehicles, such as ford's own E-series vans.

The Transit Connect has been sold in Europe since 2003, but this will be the first time the van is available in the U.S. Ford made some cosmetic changes to the van for its American introduction.

To create the electric Transit Connect, Ford is working with British firm Smith Electric Vehicles, which modifies existing commercial vehicles to use electric power. Smith already offers its customers electric versions of the Transit Connect.

Several other carmakers will also be introducing plug-in vehicles next year. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) plans to sell its "range extended" electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, which will run on batteries but also have a small gasoline engine to generate electricity for longer range. Chrysler plans to sell a similar vehicle as well.

Toyota (TM) has also announced plans for a test fleet of plug-in Prius hybrids later this year, and Nissan (NSANY) plans to introduce an electric-only "city car" in 2010.

Pakistan urges Obama to halt missile attacks

2009-01-25T04:42:00.000-08:00

Pakistan urged President Barack Obama to halt U.S. missile strikes on al-Qaida strongholds near the Afghan border, saying Saturday that civilians were killed the previous day in the first attacks since Obama's inauguration.

Pakistani security officials said eight suspected foreign militants, including an Egyptian al-Qaida operative, were among 22 people killed in Friday's twin strikes in the Waziristan region.
But the Foreign Ministry said that the attacks by unmanned aircraft also killed an unspecified number of civilians and that it had informed U.S. officials of its "great concern."

"With the advent of the new U.S. administration, it is Pakistan's sincere hope that the United States will review its policy and adopt a more holistic and integrated approach toward dealing with the issue of terrorism and extremism," a ministry statement said.

"We maintain that these attacks are counterproductive and should be discontinued," it said.

Pakistani leaders complain that stepped-up missile strikes - there have been more than 30 since August - fan anti-American sentiment and undermine the government's own efforts to counter Islamist militants.

But their protests have had few practical consequences, fueling speculation that Islamabad's cash-strapped, pro-U.S. government has given tacit approval in return for political and financial support from Washington.

Wow!!!

2009-01-15T14:39:00.001-08:00

Astronaut Suspects NASA Using Him To Test Spaceâ��s Effects On Fat People

Can you believe??

2009-01-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Things to Do During the Recession

2009-01-10T23:10:00.000-08:00

I was doing some of my daily research and I came across this pretty hilarious tips on what to do during a recession;
1. Conversation. Conversation was perfected during the Renaissance, after people stopped the incessant prayer that characterized the tedious High Middle Ages. Here's how it works: Two or more people discuss issues that concern at least one of them. One person says one thing. Another says another. Pretty soon, everybody's talking. Then you go home. Time to go to sleep! Total cost? Zero. Cool? Duh! (Replaces: theater, $500 an evening; concerts, $100 a ticket; movies, $8 a pop.)

2. Reading. Books take a long time to get through, so their price per page is all out of whack--unless you can find a way to get them for free! Now check this out: There are folks who get in the car on a Saturday morning, maybe take the kids with them, and drive to this building where people...give away books for nothing! Okay, they don't really give them to you. You have to give them back after a while. The best part is that it's not just good books they've got there but bad ones that a person can really read by, say, Nelson DeMille or Tom Peters! Total cost to you? Zilch! I kid you not! (Replaces: reading expensive magazines.)

3. Stamp collecting. On the back of your matches, there's sometimes this offer. Millions of stamps from really weird places. Cost? Maybe five bucks. You send away for big packages of these little babies and paste them into a book, then look at your collection and feel good about yourself. No, they're not worth anything. But neither is that 401(k) retirement account whose value is set by the price of your stock, right? (Replaces: cigars.)

4. Poker. This is a really good game, and it involves gambling too. You get a bunch of cards. If you can convince the other slightly tipsy guys at your table that they're good cards--or at least better than their cards--you can win money from them. Even small winnings can feel big when the losers are your friends. (Replaces: investing in the stock market.)

5. Scrabble. During recessions the importance of intellectual pursuits becomes more apparent because there's no money to do anything better. Scrabble is a game that exercises the upper 20% of your mind without engaging any of its capacity for profound thought. It's also a way for people who don't have anything to say to one another to spend cheap time together. (Replaces: $18 of latte at Barnes & Noble.)

6. Spam. It's fatty. It's spicy. It's repulsive to those who haven't been admitted to the club. It's filling, too. After a while you develop a taste for it and can't believe you ever got along without it. (Replaces: sushi.)

7. Your old Pentium. Imagine! Using the same computer, without any upgrades, for three years in a row--with no social stigma whatsoever! Anyone looking for the positive side of recession need look no further. (Replaces: your new Pentium III 500-megahertz tower with Voodoo VI, a 16.8-gig hard drive, and a modem so fast it leaves skid marks.)

8. Driving. The front seat! What a concept! Don't cry. You can still talk on the cellular phone as much as you want...as long as the company is still paying for it. (Replaces: being driven.)

9. Walking about aimlessly. You see them every day. People moving around under their own power. Some of them are wearing exercise clothing because they are walking for exercise. Others are simply perambulating for no reason, which is allowed during a recession. For the first time in years, these people are not lurching from place to place inside an enclosure for the purpose of spending money. (Replaces: going to the mall.)

10. Bowling. A very frustrating game that costs less than 20 bucks for several hours of humiliation. The ball seldom goes where you want it to, and only one person in 1,000 looks like anything but a geek doing it. Afterwards you can drink a lot, though. (Replaces: golf.)

11. Watching the fireplace. You put a few logs in a box in the wall. You light the logs. If you're lucky, it's interesting for a while. After a time, you fall asleep. (Replaces: your satellite dish.)

12. Gettin' out that fondue set! Fondue is melted cheese, for the most part. You put bread into it, then eat it off long forks. People used to spend whole evenings doing this. Sometimes they drank or swapped spouses. It was very '70s. Take a look. There should be a set in your attic. (Replaces: nothing, but fills the gap fondue made when it left in the '80s.)

13. Bad wine. There's a world of swill out there. It's cheap! (Replaces: good wine.)

14. Bad cheese. How do you spell Velveeta? (Replaces: good, smelly cheese.)

15. Darning/mending. Folks used to do this all the time. An old article of clothing can be "fixed" with a needle and thread to look almost like new. (Replaces: style.)

16. Raking leaves. In some locations, you can still burn them when you're done, creating one of the great smells. In summer, you can extend your new skill in this area to the concept of mowing your own lawn. Hey! Put your head between your knees! I was only kidding! (Replaces: somebody else raking your leaves.)

17. Car trips to Toledo. It's you and the spouse and the kids and the budgie, all in a large van of some sort, heading off to the great American backwash. You drive, oh, six hours to your motel. You see the giant ball of twine at the local museum. Then it's dinner at an authentic local beanery and off to bed. Tomorrow it's the same thing. After ten days, it's back to work. (Replaces: two weeks in Tuscany.)

18. Keeping your job. Remember all those new horizons you were going to explore? Do it later. (Replaces: telling them to shove it.)

19. Losing your job. It's not personal. You rule, dude. It's just your position that was eliminated. (Replaces: keeping your job.)

20. Sleeping. Hey, call me when it's over, huh? (Replaces: working.)

10 Tips for a Starting a Computer Electronics Business

2009-01-10T19:49:00.000-08:00

Even though I am an accountant, I am extremely interested in the computer and electronic world so here are a few tips on starting a computer business;

1. Love what you do - This is by far the most important thing in almost every business. Dont ever do it “just for the money”.

2. Have sufficient start up funds - It is possible to start up a computer business for as low as $500 which should cover your business registration, initial visit to your accountant to get setup legally and some business cards. However, the most important start up funds are the ones you need to support yourself while you build up your client base, which leads me into my next tip.

3. Start your own business while you are still employed - It may be many months before your business starts becoming profitable so its a good idea to have another job to cover your living expenses during that time.

4. Be good with money - Managing money isnt just “one of those things that you do” in business. It is what business is all about. If you cant manage your own funds now, you probably shouldnt be starting a business.

5. Start on a shoestring - Dont go renting a big officespace if you can start your business from home. Dont buy lots of expensive office furniture and electronics. A computer, fax machine, basic printer, internet connection, a phone and a basic toolkit should be enough for most businesses.

6. Understand how you will make a profit - Work out how much you will need to charge for your products and services in order to make a substantial profit. Take into account costs such as your advertising, utilities and rent. From there you can determine how much money you need to make each month to survive.

7. Get and keep the competitive edge - Perhaps you can strike up a special deal with your supplier to get items cheaper than your competitors. Be a professional on the products you are selling or have the friendliest staff.

8. Dont go it alone - Unless you are a accountant, a lawyer or a designer then you should hire professionals to do those tasks. In the long run, if you try and do it yourself you will waste more time and money than if you originally paid a professional to do it. Rememer your time isnt free anymore.

It is also a good idea to have someone you can bounce ideas off. Its especially important to have someone who will play devils advocate for you.

9. Be Professional - Everything you do should be professional. Your business cards, the way you act and even the way you dress. This shows your clients that you are a professional running a serious business.

10. Prepare for the worst - What would you do if your house/office burnt down right now? Would your customer database be backed up elsewhere or would it perish? Do you have adequate insurance if a clients computer perished in a fire, along with all its data?

Starting a Business With Minimum Resources

2008-12-31T13:03:00.000-08:00

You want to start a business, you have very little resources, well this is just what you should read that I came across;

Many new businesses are started because someone loves the activity and wants to earn money doing it. There's nothing wrong with this - in fact, most small business experts agree that you'll have a better chance of success doing something that you love. But there's quite a difference between being involved in a hobby and taking it to the level of a business. (Please see the former Workshop, Should You Turn Your Hobby Into a Business?) If you're thinking of starting a business based on your interests, and have limited time or resources, don't worry. You can "bootstrap" your way to gaining the required expertise.

There are three main ways to bootstrap yourself into a new business: 1. study the necessary techniques using books, video tapes or the Internet; 2. associate with someone who's already an expert and have them teach you as you go; and3. gradually phase into the work through on-the-job training, perhaps as a part-time employee.VThe first thing to do when you want to start a new business is become as expert as possible by reading everything you can find on the subject. This may involve going back to school, although this costs money and takes time away from your primary money-earning job. There are situations, however, in which you'll have no alternative but to attend classes or spend evenings self-teaching yourself.

Working directly with an expert can be the best way to gain expertise in a field. One extremely successful graphic designer I know actually started making money in the business before she knew anything about it. How? With a background in fine arts, she read all the books she could find about graphic design. Then she contacted a manufacturing company and secured a graphics job from them to produce a series of brochures. The work needed to be finished in a specific amount of time, and the company would pay as each stage of the project was completed. Based on this, the apprentice graphic artist hired an experienced graphic artist to do the project - and worked hand-in-hand with the "expert" at every stage. Both made money, and in the process the beginner became more familiar with all the ins-and-outs of the trade. By the way, this beginner did have some business expertise and contacts in certain industries, which she used to attract clients. Bootstrapping usually works most effectively when one already has a good general understanding of business- in particular, of sales and marketing.

What did she do then? She contacted other companies, securing another contract to produce a new company logo, letterhead, business cards, etc. Again, she hired a veteran graphic artist who was between jobs. This expert was more than happy to have the work, and to show her the ropes as the project was completed stage by stage.

The result? Within three months the fledgling graphic artist had become accomplished enough to perform most graphic tasks on her own. Whenever she ran into something she couldn't handle, she simply hired someone else to help - at a slightly lower rate of pay, then worked along with the person to learn as she earned. "It took me about a year before I considered myself adept enough to be completely on my own," she says. "By then I had a solid portfolio of sample work to show potential clients. I felt confident enough to stand on my own, and I had developed good working relationships with other graphic artists I could call in on really big jobs."

This method of bootstrapping can work in almost any business. Exceptions are fields in which state or federal licensing is required (these usually involve formal education and apprentice periods). Be creative and apply this technique to your own chosen field. There may be some limitations to how quickly you can bootstrap your way to the top, but perseverance and self-motivation ultimately will pay off.

Preliminaries for Starting a Successful Business

2008-12-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all, this is my first post where I am showing you some of the preliminaries for starting a successful Business which i came across;

Planning ability

Planning ability is not necessarily an innate virtue. Planning ability is based on knowledge. Doing your homework before starting a business is a very ordinary task that is often left unfinished. Taking time to read extensively about the business area, talking at length to other business owners in the same or similar businesses and asking advice from knowledgeable people makes the planning process easy. The more an entrepreneur knows about the new business, the easier it is to eliminate potential problems before they occur. Taking time to become well informed will save time (and maybe the business) in the future.

Sound management practices

Sound management practices include a well thought and written business plan to cover the economic, housing, personnel and inventory requirements. This plan is a working, dynamic document that becomes the road map to move a business from an idea to a profitable enterprise. What, when, where, who and how much it costs must be anticipated and spelled out in the plan. The presence of a detailed business plan is often instrumental in obtaining bank loans for start-up costs or business expansions. Implementation of the plan must rest with people who are responsible for the on-going operations, and who understand the organizational theory of the business plan.

Industry experience

Industry experience is essential to avoid the pitfalls and surprises that the naive entrepreneur encounters. If the new business owner has a good idea but lacks the practical experience, then hiring employees with specialized industry experience is crucial. To reap the full benefit of employee experience, an owner must establish an open atmosphere of employee participation and communication. Likewise, establishing lines of communication with the owners of similar businesses is very important. The key is to listen and make sure that all suggestions, even criticisms, are welcomed and thoughtfully considered.

Technical support

Technical support is cost-effective in the long run. Paying for the expertise or advanced technology that is not available within the company invariably results in better results than trying to make do with inadequate resources. It is particularly important for new businesses to have processes and procedures designed for efficiency and effectiveness. For example, an employment service may screen all applicants with a formal background check before sending them for an interview. Each business has different needs for technical or professional assistance that should not be ignored.

Do you have what it takes to start a new business? The answer is yes, if you don't ignore the basics.