| October 12th, 2011, Mark Williams  New entrepreneurs spend too much time worrying about raising “startup capital” for their business. I realize you have bills to pay and a spouse to comfort, but you need to give serious thought to whether you actually need outside investors to help you start your business. Some Businesses Are Capital Intensive Yes, I can acknowledge that certain businesses (and business models) need big chunks of money to get out of the starting gate. For example: - restaurants
- retail stores
- manufacturing businesses
- sales organizations (that have to pay high upfront commissions)
If you’re planning to get into those kinds of ventures, you probably do need an investor to start the business. But what if you aren’t getting into a capital intensive business? Are You Sure You Need Outside Investment Money? Have you thought through every possible scenario for getting the business off the ground? Could you do any consulting or offer other time-for-money kinds of services that would get some cash in your coffers until your core product gains some traction? I’m convinced that many new entrepreneurs seek investors for purely emotional reasons: 1. They’re freaked out by the idea of “going it alone,” and the idea of taking on an investor makes them feel more secure about the business’s chance of succeeding. 2. Subconsciously, they know that having a big wad of cash in the bank (thanks to the investor) delays the day when they’ll finally have to roll up their sleeves and start knocking on doors – asking prospects to buy their product. 3. They lack confidence in their business concept or product idea, and they’ll feel validated if an investor ponies up some cash to get the product to market. → Read More September 17th, 2011, Mark Williams  In order to determine if downsizing hurts productivity, a case study on the Hampton Fire Department was conducted following its first-ever layoffs in April 2005. Although productivity and morale suffered following the layoffs, there was some uncertainty as to whether this came about because of the downsizing alone or if there was some other cause or contributing factor. For anyone who has been through a layoff, whether personally affected or not, it should come as no big surprise to learn that the study found that downsizing directly affected the productivity of the employees. A survey was conducted as part of the study. Thirty-six fire service personnel who had been working at an organization while it was downsizing took part in the survey. Here are some of the pertinent statistics: - The percentage of respondents who were not very satisfied with their jobs went from 3% to 44% after the layoffs.
- The percent who were very satisfied fell from 72% to 11%.
- Forty-seven percent of those who kept their jobs through the layoffs thought about looking for new jobs elsewhere.
- Eighty-one percent believed that morale was lower as a result of downsizing.
- Seventy-two percent thought that productivity had been negatively impacted.
Losing a job is one of the most stressful things that can happen to a person, so it’s no wonder that employee morale would decrease. Those employees who were not downsized most likely feel like they came close to losing their jobs, and they may still fear that the worst is not over, that more layoffs are yet to come. → Read More September 16th, 2011, Mark Williams  If you’re like me you probably can’t stand the logarithmic chart. Having your stock values all squished together at the top and expanded down low is just very irritating. I also didn’t appreciate length descriptions of how a log curve is calculated. So I won’t bother with that here either. So why bring them up at all? Simple – they easily show you the compounded return of an investment. You know when they say 8% return per year on average for stocks? These charts are set up to show this easily. The power of blue chip stock investing as opposed to say penny stock alerts trading is the compounded growth you get from long-term solid investments, in-fact even Albert Einstein viewed compound interest as the greatest invention in human history. This means that the growth from the previous gains can now grow as well. If a stock is $10 per share and gains 10% it will be worth $1 more per share. If it grows another 10% it won’t be worth $1 more, but $1.10. That’s the true power of compound investing, when done year after year. When charted on a log chart you just draw straight lines at different pitches to see the compounded growth curves. I use these charts after a stock that I like fundamentally (solid earnings growth, good dividend gains, gaining free cash flow, reducing debt) falls in price significantly. I’ll chart the stock on a 20 or 30 year time frame. Then I’ll draw a through the average of the prices that seems to follow the general trend of the chart. This will give you the average Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR). → Read More September 8th, 2011, Mark Williams  Motorists that are under 25 years of age will always tend to find it hard finding a cheap motor insurance quote. The problem is that the cards are always going to be stacked against them, until they gain more experience driving a vehicle and building up their no claims status. Most motor insurers will always penalise young drivers heavy, giving them an expensive premium. The fact is that around 25 percent of young drivers aged under 25 are involved in an accident, plus they are more likely to also have driving convictions on their licence too, for speeding offences. This in the eyes of the insurer is not good and not the kind of policyholder they want as a customer, because they are too much of a risk. The AA car insurance policy could offer you a great deal. Obtain a quote from them and see what they can do. So how can under 25s obtain a cheaper motor insurance quote? Well, first of all they can read some of the following techniques that will help keep the costs down. A proven technique that many motorists use when getting a quote, is to pay more money in excesses. By paying out more money in potential future payments to the insurer when making a claim, it will cause the monthly premium to fall. By increasing it too the highest amount motorists could save around 25 percent. → Read More September 5th, 2011, Mark Williams  If you’re tempted by the low real estate prices available in Nicaragua and the affordable cost of living, then you’re next step should be to learn about the local financial, level and investment environment. The goal of this article is to help you do just that by providing a list of 16 things you should know about investing in the country. - There are no limitations of property or business ownership by foreigners.
- You will not face any restrictions or taxes when transferring money into or out of the country.
- There are no currency exchange controls in Nicaragua and foreign currencies can be used freely.
- Major US companies like Stuart Title and First American offer title insurance policies in Nicaragua.
- Nicaragua has one of the most benefit laden residency programs in Central America, but be prepared for a bureaucratic application and approval process.
- Residents can import all household good (including a vehicle) without having to pay any import duties or taxes.
- As a foreign citizen you will not be taxed on any income you earn abroad, even if you receive the funds in Nicaragua.
- There is no requirement to disclose income you generate or assets you own abroad.
→ Read More
August 31st, 2011, Mark Williams  Many people dream of living in another country after retirement.Here’s a very brief over view of 3 places – Panama, Thailand & Argentina. Panama could be the best place in the world to retire. The cost of living is small with rent for an apartment starting at $200, while groceries will cost you about half of what they cost in the United States. There is plenty of fascinating things to do and see in Panama. The people are friendly, and the weather is fantastic. It’s a small country covering about the same area as South Carolina, and Panama has no taxes on foreign income and they offer outstanding
programs for retirees. One of the things that make Panama so popular for retirees is that, except for the spoken language, it’s not much different than the United States. In contrast, Thailand is quite different. It’s an exotic land with a totally different culture than in the US. Industrialization is new to Thailand, and it’s a popular tourist destination. Thailand has a tropical climate and a remarkably low cost of living. → Read More August 30th, 2011, Mark Williams  Saving money isn’t exactly a fun topic; Normally it means having to sacrifice fun things like going out and having fun. But it doesn’t have to be all work and no play. Here are 5 ways to save a little money, without having to sacrifice having fun – at least not too much. 1: Save money on meals out Going out for a nice meal is good fun, but doing it on an impulse can be costly. Try to plan your meals out a little better and you can save money. Before you go out for a meal, have a look to see if there are any vouchers online or special offers at any of your favorite restaurants. Also, have a slice of bread and butter before you leave the house. It won’t ruin your meal, but you will find you are less inclined to over order, which means you spend less. 2: Save money on meals in Trying not to spend too much at the grocery store can be a false economy; if there is nothing exciting in the cupboard, you are more likely to want to go out for a meal or get a take away. Buying a little more exciting food to cook will make eating in more enjoyable and will save you money overall. 3: Gas and diesel costs Running a car can be a big cost for most people, especially if you have a long commute. This may sound extreme, but consider selling your car and getting a more efficient one. → Read More August 26th, 2011, Mark Williams  Have you ever wondered what different kinds of information go into making up your credit report? Unless you’ve actually pulled your own report, either by requesting one from one of the three credit bureaus or by subscribing to a credit report monitoring service, you probably haven’t seen your report and have no clue. Well, here’s a summary of the type of information you’ll see. Personal Information All credit reports begin with your name and identifying information. This will usually include your address, date of birth, and social security number (SSN) – though there are some credit report monitoring services that will omit the SSN in favor of a reference number of some type to protect your identity. This section will also list out any aliases you may be known as, which can be quite surprising, but are often just simple truncations of your name. There’s usually nothing to be worried about here. This section should be pretty straight forward. But if you do have some information that is clearly incorrect, you should attempt to correct it. Credit History Your credit history is simply all the different credit accounts you have had for the past several years. The reporting shows the account balances and monthly payment activity, usually going back the last 24 months. Emphasis is placed on showing accounts that have had 30, 60, or 90 day late payments over that time period. This is the de facto industry standard for illustrating payment delinquency. Every one of those that occur on your report is a black mark that reduces your overall score. All types of accounts will appear in this section; real estate accounts, credit card accounts, and other kinds of installment or revolving credit accounts. If you’ve been an active consumer for a while, you can have quite a long set of accounts on your credit report. And they can be a little tough to identify if they’ve changed hands like real estate loans will do when they’re resold in the lending marketplace. As with everything else on your credit report, you need to verify that everything listed is indeed yours and accurately reported. → Read More | Listen to Mike Colliss Interviews |
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