Monday, June 6, 2011

What's the Cost of Franchising Your Business ...

Fun and Easy Christmas Fund Raising Strategies ? 8 Tips | TopDocInfoBlog.info

The cost of franchising is often a smaller investment than the cost of establishing even one new outlet. After paying the cost of the franchise program, the remaining costs of expansion (as well as most of the risk) are assumed by franchisees. And since franchisees usually pay the franchisor an up-front fee and royalties, the right strategy for selling your franchise idea can become an immediate high-impact low-risk revenue source.

The fixed and variable expenses involved in running a franchise company are much lower than operating a similar number of company-owned facilities.

You probably already know how much you would pay to establish a new company-owned copy of your existing business.

If you own a restaurant, for example, the cost of buying land and construction, or even the cost of leasehold improvements and furnishings in an existing building, could easily run between $100,000 and $200,000 or more. What you may not know is that for the same amount, or less, you can have a complete franchise development program. And whereas the new company-owned unit might require a year to establish and might not be profitable for another year or two, your franchise program will probably take less than a year to put together and enable you at the end of that period to sell franchises and immediately begin to recoup your investment. If your franchise fee is $35,000-an average nowadays-and if in your first year as a franchisor you sell seven franchises (another average for franchisors according to a study by DePaul University) you could have your program paid for by the end of that first year.

Some businesses are standing by and waiting for this economic storm to blow over while others are positioning their companies to succeed in spite of the downturn. What are you going to do with your business? Are you going to take the imitative to expand in spite of other companies failing around you? How can you capitalize on what you know without having to expand organically with your own money? You need to leverage your intellectual property. Franchising may be the best and only option for you to consider.

With all of the highly skilled people out of work franchising companies are taking advantage of the greatest supply of highly educated individuals that they have ever seen. With unemployment believed to continue to rise over the next year, this opportunity will continue on for a while. Though, once this recession is over and companies stop laying people off and start hiring them again, you may well have missed your window of opportunity to sell franchises in this fertile environment.

The fact is people have lost faith in what have become accepted as ?safe? investments. In spite of losses in 401k?s and home values, people still have money that they can access. They are also borrowing from friends and family that can contribute to a new business venture, which has always been an avenue for funding a new venture. This will not subside, regardless of the economy.

The challenges of today?s economy may have just created the ?perfect storm? and the best opportunity for franchising your business. The only real fear would be a competitor seizing this opportunity while you sit back and wait it out.

Related posts:

  1. The Path to Self-Employment ? Opportunities in Shipping Franchise
  2. Top 7 Myths About Pet Business Franchises
  3. What is the Cost of the Medifast Diet? The True Cost of Losing Weight Revealed
  4. Choosing a Roofing Contractor ? A Small Mistake That Could Cost You Big Money!
  5. Finding the Internet Home Business That is Right For You

Source: http://www.toppageresourcelisting.info/business-2/whats-the-cost-of-franchising-your-business/

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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Learning My Craft Comes First | Home-Family-Parenting Blog

After deciding to get engaged my, now ex, fianc and I were going to fly to Spain for an amazing honeymoon. I?m an artist and I have always been inspired by the classic Gothic architecture and people. Please do recall that I said he was an ?ex fianc. About six months before we were going to get married he felt it best to call it off. To this day we remain friends even though it took quite a bit of time before my heart healed. My parents were going to give him and I a pretty decent sum of money for a wedding gift. Instead they decided to give it to me. Mom gave me the money in an envelope accompanied by an Avis coupon code. Mom looked to me and just smiled.

I looked around the different travel plans and tours that were available and found one for Madrid and Barcelona. At first I had a little bit of hesitation considering I was still healing from the breakup, but then I started getting excited about the trip. I needed to spend time healing and what better way to do it then to go on my own independent excursion. It was going to be great to get to visit all of the different historic places that I had studied in books. The thought of actually standing in front of the Gothic Cathedral took my breath away.

Even though my main goal was to get to fill up my sketchbooks with as many drawings as I could, I managed to squeak in time to take a professional lesson in cooking. Everyone in the group found out how to create the popular Spanish paella. We had a fun time with it by turning the whole event into a contest to see who was the best cook. I?m not wanting to toot my own horn, but I won the prize. With my new award, I could back up the old saying that artists make really awesomechefs.

There were a couple times during my trip that I would stop and pause and think about my ex, it was odd to think that he could have possibly been with me. By just simply focusing on where I was right then, I was able to become absorbed in my delightful travels and realize how wonderful everything truly is. In a way I was happy that I was able to focus my attention completely on everything that I wanted from this vacation.

The whole time I really did a lot of soul-searching and truly found the essence of what it means for me to be an artist. The cultural experience left me feeling strongly connected to the world and gave me a keen sense of the direction that I wanted to take my artwork. The best life changing event to ever happen to me was the opportunity to visit the very places that motivate all of my creative work.

Enjoy your trip with the help of avis coupons or you may also enjoy Thrifty Car Rental coupons.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Source: http://home-family-parenting.info/learning-my-craft-comes-first/

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Now There's a Toy Dog You Control With Your Nintendo DS [Video]

Kids love video games, and kids love dogs, so Sega Toys and Activision Publishing have combined the two in Wappy Dog, a virtual pet game for the Nintendo DS that's a little less virtual, thanks to the bundled dog robot. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/DHkvDgORhVc/now-theres-a-toy-dog-you-control-with-your-nintendo-ds

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Q&A: how to avoid paying tax from buying and selling cars? | Car ...

Question by Tim: how to avoid paying tax from buying and selling cars?
I live in Washington state, I wanna buy cheap cars? detail them and make them saleable and profitable because I used to be a detailer and my cousin is a mechanic. I wonder if we sell them on Craigslist, make money from it and our names are on titles of a lot of cars ? then year by IRS will ?charge? us or we have to pay a lot of tax . thanks

Best answer:

Answer by cap
Get a dealer?s license?

What do you think? Answer below!

Source: http://carauctionsperth.net/auctions/qa-how-to-avoid-paying-tax-from-buying-and-selling-cars/

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Door opens for major reform of school finance | California Watch

U.S. Census Bureau

In a notable display of bipartisan support, the state Assembly approved potentially landmark school financing legislation by a 74-2 vote this week. The vote reflected an overwhelming consensus on the need to reform the way schools are funded.?

The fact that Republicans unanimously voted for the legislation could smooth its passage through the Legislature. GOP support was no doubt bolstered by the fact that two leading business groups ? the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Bay Area Council ? are sponsors of the bill, along with the California Department of Education.?

The legislation, AB 18, authored by Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, D-Santa Monica, the chairperson of the Assembly Education Committee,?now goes to the state Senate for consideration. But the nearly unanimous degree of support that it received in the Assembly suggested that for the first time in years, significant changes in school financing could emerge from Sacramento.?

Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, said that the vote "reflects the strength of conviction that leaders have for the need for California to get its act together." He said the current system is "overly complicated, overly burdensome and ineffective."?

Said Paul Hefner, a spokesperson for state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, "There is clearly a need to make sure that the dollars we are investing in education are directed to the greatest need, and are helping schools achieve the best possible results."

Gov. Jerry Brown has yet to take a position on Brownley's legislation, but key elements are similar to ones proposed by Brown during his gubernatorial campaign last fall. His plan, in turn, echoes recommendations made by policy advocates and researchers in recent years.?

A core part of Brown's plan is to provide school funds using a "simple weighted formula based on specific needs of the students in the district." Brownley's bill also calls for funding based on a "weighted student funding approach" related to?the number of English learners and economically disadvantaged pupils in a district.

Brown's plan envisions consolidating dozens of "categorical programs" to less than 20, while Brownley's bill consolidates categorical funding into a "target pupil equity grant" as a way to simplify funding.?

One key hurdle is the California Teachers Association, the only declared opponent of the bill. The association says it opposes introducing fundamental reforms without further research into possible "unintended consequences." It also worries about changing funding streams at a time when schools are experiencing massive budget cuts. ?

"We don't oppose reforming the system," said association spokesman Mike Myslinski. "It is clear there is problem." But, he said:

Our concern is about moving too quickly with this bill. We need adequate funding of our schools, and this legislation does not provide it. It doesn't give us the basic resources that we need in our schools to ensure that any transformation (in school funding) is a positive one, that each student has a qualified teacher, all schools are safe and clean, and all students have up to date instructional materials. All those things should be in place before we can support any major reform."

Brownley, however, thinks that this is precisely the best time to introduce reforms. She noted that her legislation will only go into effect in 2015-16, at a time when more funds should be available for schools.?

We have made deep cuts to education, and I want to restore those cuts, and invest more in education. As we begin the recovery, and new monies come into the system, those monies should be distributed in a more efficient and effective way.? If we continue to invest new revenues into a broken system we will never achieve the outcomes we are all looking for, which is that all children will be successful in school.?

The Bay Area Council's Wunderman also thought that the current crisis argues in favor of reforms, not against them.

We are not going to improve student outcomes significantly unless you deal with the real problems that are hampering our schools' performance, and this (the school financing system) is right on the top of the list.?

Brownley emphasized that her bill is a "work in progress" and simply represents the "basic architecture" for school financing reform. "I am trying to work with all the stakeholders to build a consensus and move forward," she said.

?

Source: http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/door-opens-major-reform-school-finance-10575

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Saturday, June 4, 2011

Hurricane season flood insurance | WAVY.com | Hampton Roads

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) - Being hurricane ready is more than just flashlights and food items. Many people think protection against flood damage is covered by their home owners insurance, but that's not always the case.

If you look back at the storms that have affected not only the Virginia coast but the entire east coast, the most severe damage from hurricanes comes from flooding.

Once a hurricane develops in the Atlantic, it will be difficult to find an insurance company willing to sell you flood insurance until the storm threat passes.

Experts said two things are certain: no matter where you live in Hampton Roads, you should have flood insurance, and if you do have flood insurance, make sure you know the limits of your coverage.

Even inland areas hundreds of miles from the coast are at risk for flooding, and hurricanes produce not only a storm surge but torrential rains as well.

10 On Your Side spoke with people in downtown Norfolk Thursday to see how many homeowners actually have flood insurance. Click on the adjacent video to watch.

Source: http://www.wavy.com/dpp/on_your_side/hurricane-season-flood-insurance

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CarboRocket; the ultimate endurance fuel - CogSnob : : Cycling ...

In endurance sports such as endurance mountain bike racing there is no substitute for training, fitness, and a reasonable diet and nutrition. Come race day, the training and fitness will only get a racer so far, what can easily make or break a race though is nutrition and hydration.

Training has shown that I can burn through 900 to 1000 calories per hour, and training effort tends to be less than race effort. This means that calorie intake is massively important. There are many ways to get calories but most of them are not convenient during a race. Since I'm not one of the guys off the front I spend a good amount of time eating other people's dust. This leaves a dry gritty mouth, where anything solid such as nutrition bars are hard to eat. Gels are sticky and can upset my stomach especially late in a race. Energy chews often taste good but along with the dry mouth I have choked on one or two before. Trying to replenish 30-50% of my calories per hour has been challenging.

Hydration is also a tough part of the race diet that can be hard to manage. Hydration is more than just H20, it also includes critical salts to keep the body's synapses firing right keeping away cramping and muscle fatigue. The salts also help the body absorb and process the H20.

Last year I basically used a different type of product to fulfill my race nutrition needs, a drink, some foods, and salt tablets. This year I have been lucky enough to work with CarboRocket. CarboRocket is an all in one endurance drink that includes calories, salt, and of course H20. Although I have been using the product in training and early season races, I was able to put it to the real test at one of the hardest races of my season at the Gunnison Growler. 64 grueling, always on, technical, high altitude, dry air, windy miles on the BLM Hartman Rocks area of Gunnison Colorado.

This year at the Growler I decided to rely nearly 100% on CarboRocket 333 Half Evil Endurance Fuel for the entire race. I did snack on a Honey Stinger Energy Bar at the 1/2 point mainly to give my stomach something to digest and ease the hunger feeling I had. I also had a small ice cold Coca-Cola at the last aid station mainly because it was there and it was cold, and it tasted really good! But the main course was CR333.

CR333 provided me what I needed all in the form of a good flavorful drink. No need to try to pull a gel out of a pocket, suck it down between breaths, and then try to get the sticky wrapper back into the jersey pocket only to have it come out later when getting another gel. No food wrappers to try to open then also shove in a pocket. No salt tablets container to try to open then to swallow a tablet that sticks to the very back of the tongue refusing to go down the rest of the way. All I had to do was reach down for a bottle and take a drink. I had more time with my hands on the handle bars (absolutely needed at the Growler), and less time slowing to fiddle with stuff in my pockets.

In the end I took more than 30 minutes off my time from last year on a harder course than last year, 64 miles and 7 1/2 hours of non-stop effort fueled by CarboRocket 333 Half Evil and I literally felt "good" at the end of the race (last year I thought I might die at the end of the race, and my body chemistry was so messed up, well I won't go there).

If you are looking for great endurance fuel for a bike ride, a run, or hike, check out CarboRocket, the Epic Endurance Cycling Team is relying on it for our endurance fuel!

Source: http://www.cogsnob.com/2011/06/carborocket-the-ultimate-endurance-fuel.html

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