Archive for September, 2009
How Do You Set Up A Profitable Deal With Joint Ventures
To stack the cards in your favor from day one look for businesses that are already doing well. Now this doesn’t mean that they have to be “big” but it will be a hundred times easier for you if you’re working with a product or a client base that’s already profitable trust me.
In fact it’s not hard to find a business with a superior product that has the potential to crush its competitors and dominate its niche if only someone could do it justice with some effective marketing and sufficient exposure a perfect recipe for a JV…
Nothing is worse than getting stuck with a “dud” product or a dead “list”.
Now you’re going to want to look for ways to earn as much as you possibly can from each deal that you put together obviously. What this entails is finding products with highticket pricepoints or items of a “recurring” nature. If you can find both then that’s even better…
For example it’s almost always easier to sell 3 items at 1000 each then it is to sell 1000 items for 3.00 each.
Note: Find highticket products that have a very high profit margin.
For the sake of simplicity let’s pretend that the product in this case is a travel package.
Now if you were to set up a JV with a relevent “travel” newsletter that would effectively reach your target market and if they had 100000 paying subscribers you could potentially stand to make alot of money…
If even one percent if the newsletter’s readership 1000 people decided to buy a travel package for 1000 you will have just earned 100000 for simply arranging the deal.
Not too bad is it?
Now perhaps even better than a highticket product is one that could potentially provide an ongoing lifetime income as compensation for you brokering the deal. If done right this type of arrangement will turn a “onetime deal” into lifelong profits…
For example:
Doing JV’s with merchant services that enable their clients to accept credit cards and negotiating a percentage of the “residual” flat rate per client transaction
Doing JV’s with subscriptionbased services and taking a percentage of all subscriptions indefinitely
Doing JV’s involving financial products and negotiating a cut of the firm’s revenues.
Doing JV’s involving insurance products and negotiating a cut of monthly premiums
As you can clearly see the amount of money to be made as a JV Broker is enormous and it can last for the rest of your life if you set it up to do so…
Approaching people as a broker can be intimidating at first because it might “feel” like you have nothing to offer which obviously isn’t the case.
However while there are several ways to approach a business to work with I’m going to share with you the single most powerful yet overlooked strategy for putting together JV’s with “cold” prospects that have never done a JV before that has practically always worked every time:
Build relationships with your prospects.
Really. This works like gangbusters. This might sound “cliche” but building a solid relationship with anyone will absolutely skyrocket your chances of doing business with them at any given time shortterm or longterm.
And this is easier to do than you might think. In fact I would recommend in some cases that you start out by helping out a company for free. Show them how to test and track their ads. Help them improve their sales copy and marketing material. Tell them about “backend” strategies and teach them about how to use email marketing effectively and so on. Prove yourself first.
How?
Tell them that you’re a marketing consultant and you’re looking to build up a strong portfolio by helping other businesses succeed and that you’re only willing to work for a percentage of an increase in sales or free to begin with until you pitch the JV.
Once they see the value and validity of your advice they’ll trust your decisions. At this point they’d probably welcome your JV proposal with open arms.
This process doesn’t have to take a long time. It might not even have to take more than a few hours. The bottom line is that if you see that there is some real proven potential in this company’s product or client base then this “proving time” will be more than worth it for you in the end…
Now once you’ve solidified yourself as an ally with this company you can then basically repeat the process with their potential partners and so on.
Note: This strategy isn’t necessarily applicable to every situation but the principle behind it is. Build trust by being truly helpful and clearly explain that you will only earn a percentage of the sales that you generate directly.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;For more useful tips hints please browse for more information at our website:
http://www.jointventuressecret.com
http://www.jointventures.reprintarticlesite.com
Franchise A Family Business
A large family can supply needed employees
A franchise that has many employees working in it on different shifts is one that a large family could run quite well if the family members are so inclined. The family must however get along with each other as they will spend even more time together if they work in the business together. Sibling rivalries can become even more pronounced when the family members need to spend even more time together. If the family gets along well together then this franchise idea may be a perfect way for the business to solve the employee need.
Another concern with using family members to work in the business is even the most harmonious families can be strained a little when they have to also spend their working hours together. Also if one of them is put in charge when the owner is not present this must be explained and made clear that there can only be one boss running a shift.
A natural selection for assistant manager
If one of the family members is older and a natural leader of peers then this person could be made the assistant manager or a shift supervisor. This has two advantages of letting the family member learn the business by running a part of it and being responsible of what happens when they are in charge. Some families have purchased a franchise in order to give a family member a job. In some cases it works and in some cases it is a disaster in the making. It comes down to whether the family member is capable of handling the job.
Other familyrun businesses decide early to let their children learn from people outside of the family and these businesses bring in outside managers and supervisors on purpose. Smart help that is not related can create an advantageous situation for the younger family members to learn from. The removal of inside family authority can open the way for a better learning scenario.
Each situation must be judged on its own merits and handled with some care. Other employees can be affected if an incompetent family member is put in charge. This is a serious dilemma when it is done to good employees. They will resent the new boss and may leave when they become unhappy enough. Losing good employees over a bad decision like this can hurt the business in the long run.
Advantages of paying family members
When you give a family member money out of your pocket you cannot deduct this money as a business expense. If you pay them to work in the business this can be deducted like any other employee expense. The advantage to the owner is they get to use beforetax dollars to pay the family member. When it comes out of the pocket and is not a paycheck this money is aftertax money for the owner. This tax advantage can be significant when larger sums of money are involved. This is a very good way to get money in the hands of a son or daughter without paying taxes on it yourself.
Using the family franchise as a teaching tool
A franchise that has family in key spots is a terrific way to teach how to run a business. This is true from both positive aspects as well as negative aspects. The family franchise can teach in real time all elements of running a business. First and foremost it teaches how to deal with all types of customers. It teaches how to handle employees and supervisors. Details like tax decisions can be explained as to the consequences. Staying with a budget and handling suppliers can be brought home to the family member the owner is trying to educate. The importance of proper advertising using radio TV or newspapers can be demonstrated in real life situations and not as a textbook case. All of the things an owner has to worry about when running a successful business can be shown to the family member in great detail. This real time learning experience can have a positive affect in the life of the family member. If they stay with the business the decisions are likely to be better and if they go out on their own they have a better idea what to do and what not to do.
Dealing with the daytoday business decisions in real life is more likely to sink in than ideas read in a book. Being able to see the result brings home the correctness of the decision. If it works: why? And if it does not work: why? An analysis of the results can be illuminating to the trainee.
Turning over the business
Having a son or daughter in the business solves another problem that may come up in the future. Who will buy the business when the owner decides to sell? If the son or daughter likes the business and wants to continue it when the owner wants to retire a natural progression is already in place. The son or daughter should be able to continue the success the owner enjoyed and not have to learn a new business. They already know what to do and how to do it. This builtin buyer helps in many ways such as long term planning and changes for growth.
Making the business more successful makes sense when the son or daughter will be the beneficiary. Keeping it in the family is a very real incentive for most owners.
Conclusions
A franchise run by the family has many advantageous and some negatives. The employee problem is not as confining if there is help from the family. Management can be a family contribution or it can be kept outside of the family and used only to teach the family members and run the company. Most franchises that have family working in them gravitate toward having family in positions of power and decisionmaking. It must be made clear that a family member who is put in charge is the boss and other members working for this boss must do as told. This person must be listened to just as any other boss would be listened too. The owner must make this point in order to prevent normal family infighting from occurring. Sibling jealousy and disrespect cannot be allowed to take place in the business. If it shows up it must be stopped. The business comes first and all family members must be willing to recognize this fact.
A family can run a franchise with great success if the head of the family lays down the rules at the beginning and makes sure they are followed. The advantages are many and the negatives can be handled when honestly confronted.
About the writer: Bill Henthorn formerly was principal broker and owner of a resort / commercial real estate brokerage in Honolulu which specialized in representing sellers in transactions up to 50MM.He currently serves as the marketing director of http://www.acquireo.com
Forget About The Competition!
Have you ever stopped and thought “why are they getting all the brides?” or maybe wondered “how can I be as successful as that company?” I used to do the exact same thing and then the answer came to me suddenly.
I was trying to BE “them”. I was emulating every single thing that my competition did….I mean I was doing this up until the end of the summer this year. Then someone said to me “there is no competition”. I didn’t get it at first but after hearing this several times and really letting it sink it I got clear. The reason why you’ll never be as successful or as good as them is because you’re constantly comparing yourself to and trying to be “them”. STOP IT!
Try being you for a change….I mean REALLY being you. Be truly authentic in your marketing. Why are you a Wedding Planner? What makes you tick? What’s YOUR story that makes you….YOU?! Brides want to know this and they will truly be drawn to that. If you’re a little silly let it shine. They will come to you like moths to a flame. Quit trying to measure up to “their” standards for once and create your OWN!
Fab Planner Advice:
Journal for a moment about what makes you so awesome. What are you passionate about? What is your true love? Why are you planning weddings? What makes you the best planner to hire? What makes you…YOU? Identify this through journaling and then start using this in all of your marketing and in every essence of you!
2008 Soire! Ltd./Natalie Bradley Events
Want to use this article in your Ezine or website? You can as long as you include this complete statement:
Event Planning entrepreneur Natalie Bradley publishes the “Fabulous Planner” weekly ezine. Get your F*REE report: “Top 20 mistakes keeping you from being a fabulous successful event planner” at www.FabulousEventPlanners.com.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;For years Natalie Bradley has planned and designed hundreds of weddings and other social events. After rapidly creating a 6figure wedding planning company and having a full wedding planning practice Natalie developed a proven stepbystep system to teach others the keys to being a truly successful wedding professional. As the CEO and Bride Attraction Expert for Soire! Ltd. Natalie helps wedding professional entrepreneurs create not only a profitable business but one that creates wealth abundance and joy in their lives. Natalie believes that success and freedom must go handinhand!Natalie Bradley has been featured throughout the media including Inside Weddings Modern Bride Atlanta The Knot Georgia Lake Oconee Living Weddings with Style Brides.com Blog Southern Distinction Georgia Living TV and Holiday Home.At www.BrideAttraction.com Natalie shares free resources articles and strategies for wedding professionals to propel their businesses and lives to true success.
