Business Opportunity Paying it Forward

The Right Opportunity

I would like to, if I may, introduce an online home business opportunity based on the concept of "paying it forward." I am involved in this program along with many others who have joined me, and we're well on our way to experiencing financial freedom. 

This concept is so simple a child can do it!  This proven program is a legitimate Low Cost,   One Time,   No Monthly Payments Home Business Opportunity that pays you residual income“Just For Helping Others.”  No Experience Required. 

Take action now!

4Corners looks at money differently because we look at it through YOUR eyes. We understand that once you have the right knowledge, the right tools and the right mindset, anything is possible.

Your exclusive Platinum membership in this 3rd party Investment solution is your ticket to a new kind of prosperity—where you hold all the cards. You are in FULL control of how big you want to grow, and we are here to support you every step of the way.

Feast your eyes on a sturdy and robust business platform, with products that are the gold standard in the industry, yet accessible to anyone with a burning desire to get more out of life.

And while your Platinum membership practically recruits for you, we know you won’t settle for that. You’re tired of playing small. You want bigger rewards, higher output and longer term security, and you’re willing to put in the work to make it happen.

With your desire and passion, and our tools, support and guidance, your potential here is unlimited.

Below are two short videos for you to watch then decide if this is the opportunity for you to find financial freedom. This system rocks and I promise you'll be glad you joined!

4 Corners Alliance Full Presentation

Four Corners Explained In 5 Minutes Turn $18 into $500,000

BIZNIZ TOOLS - START UP AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES

A grassroots centered program to assist individuals and small businesses to plan and conduct business successfully in today's changing environment.

 Some ways Biz Niz Tools can serve you:

1) Business Proposal – describes your business in details.

2) Grant Letters – Obtain funding for your organization.

3) Website set up – To inform the public and obtain advertisement for your business.

4) Business Retreat – visit our website

5) Other Services include filling out forms, correspondence, resumes, promotional brochures and flyers.

Operate your business at the cutting edge of technology,
to enhance and increase leverage for growth, innovation, and success.

Don't be archaic - make the change.

Click to start free website 

The organizational assessment is designed to analyze the way the organization is currently operated, by laying out the current system of operation and evaluating this data to assess the needs and develop a solution

Working knowledge of disciplines contributes to the understanding of organizational phenomena. 

Process consultation addresses problems such as high employee turnover, poor quality control, absence of product differentiation, unsfe working conditions, low profit margin, lack of strategic direction, and so on.

BizNiz Tools Consultant Services is a  program designed to provide services to grassroots organizations and such as churches, small businesses, and entrepreneurs who seek to put business ideas to action, in a time when  global economy is challenged and the business environment of every society experience exponential change.  The mission of this program is to educate, innovate and train to build businesses and fulfill dreams.  BizNiz Tools constitutes a group of business associates that  provide tools to plan, organize, build and maintain businesses.   Technology is the main driver of change in business today.  The changing face of technology has created the need for companies to make major changes in order maintain competitive edge.  Services include: business plans, board of director workshops, incorporation services, development of articles and by-laws, bookkeeping, marketing solutions, SWOT analysis workshop, change management workshops, and management services. We are a grassroots community service, and are open to bartering of services.

Contact Information

Phone: (818) 859-9970

Email: BizNiztools@gmail.com

About BizNiz Tools

BizNiz Tools Consultant Services is a  program designed to provide services to grassroots organizations and such as churches, small businesses, and entrepreneurs who seek to put business ideas to action, in a time when  global economy is challenged and the business environment of every society experience exponential change.  The mission of this program is to educate, innovate and train to build businesses and fulfill dreams.  BizNiz Tools constitutes a group of business associates that  provide tools to plan, organize, build and maintain businesses.   Technology is the main driver of change in business today.  The changing face of technology has created the need for companies to make major changes in order maintain competitive edge.  Services include: business plans, board of director workshops, incorporation services, development of articles and by-laws, bookkeeping, marketing solutions, SWOT analysis workshop, change management workshops, and management services. We are a grassroots community service, and are open to bartering of services.

Contact Information

Phone: (818) 859-9970

Email: BizNiztools@gmail.com

Maximizing Social Media Networking Tools

From SM Business Solutions
Here are a few pointers I found useful in maximizing my use of the various social media networks LinkedIn,
Facebook, Twitter, blogs and You Tube.
1. Determine your company's assets, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats.
In other words, do a SWOT analysis of your company.
2. Create a Social Media Strategy for your business to give you a clear focus of who you want to
reach, how you will reach them- what network to use, what you will do to engage your target market
and how to convert leads into customers.
3. Optimize your presence on the Web by linking blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social media sites
YouTube video to website. Make sure the page your visitors land on your website has an enticing way
to capture their information that can be used for follow-up.

If you have other ways of maximizing social media sites or specific example do share with us :-)

Business Plan Outline - Example B

BUSINESS PLAN LAYOUT: 
Suggestions for what should be included  in the plan

This is a possible outline for a more condensed and simplified business plan.  The information in the outline is based on speakers from the Duke Entrepreneurship Education Series (www.DukeDEES.com).  This is only a general outline and none of these components may be required.  Some sections may not even apply to you depending on the type of business.   Follow the outline, answer each questions  and fill in only information that applies to your company. 

Outline

I.  Executive Summary

            a.  Unmet Need and Solution

            b.  Market Opportunity

            c.  Industry Analysis

            d.  Team

            e.  Business Model

            f.  Finances

II.  Problem Definition and Solution

            a.  What is the problem/need that the company is trying to address?

            b.  What is the company’s solution to this problem/need?

            c.  How does the solution work?

            d.  How far along is the solution?  What stage of development is it in?

            e.  Does the company have proof of concept of the proposed solution?

III.  Market Opportunity

            a.  Define the market.

                        i.  What is the market size?

                        ii.  What is the growth rate of the market?

                        iii.  What are key drivers of growth in this market?

            b.  Why this market?

            c.  What are risk factors in addressing this market?

IV.  Industry Analysis

           a.    Define the industry in which the company competes.

           b.    Identify competitors in the company.  What are the strengths, weaknesses,

                   opportunities, and threats associated with these competitors? (SWOT 

                   Analysis)         

            c.    Are their barriers to entry in the industry?  How will the company overcome 

                   them?

            d.    What strategy will the company pursue to achieve profits?

            e.    Does the company have an intellectual property that will give it a sustained

                   competitive advantage?  If so, does the company have freedom to operate 

                   (i.e.are there any competitors present that have similar patents?)

V.  The Team

            a.   Who are the company’s team members? 

                        i.  What is the motivation of the team members?

                        ii.  What is their experience level?

                        iii.  What role does each team member serve in the company?

            b.  Does the company have an advisory board? 

                        i.  Who is on the board?

                        ii.  What roles do they fill? 

                        iii.  How involved will the advisory board be? 

                        iv.  What resources does the board bring?

            c.  Does the company have service providers?

                        i.  Does the company employ a law firm?

                        ii. Does the company employ accountants?

VI.  The Business Model

          a.  What method will the company employ to make money (e.g. service, product, 

                subscription method)?

          b.  Who is the company’s target customer?

          c.  Is the business scalable (i.e. is there a limit to the number of customers that the

                   business can serve)?

VII.  Finances

         a.  How much is the company worth?  What do the 3-5 year projections look like for 

               the company (e.g. pro forma income statement, balance sheet, and statement of 

               cash flow)?  

         b.  What do different scenarios of the company look like?  What does the company’s

               best, worst, and expected financial performance look like?   

         c.  How much cash is needed for each milestone the company wants to achieve?  

         d.  What do comparable firms to the company look like in terms of financial ratios?

Web Resources:

http://www.dukestartupchallenge.org/the-competition/phase-2

Additional Resources

Small Business Administration offers resources on how to write a business plan and starting your own company:

http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/writeabusinessplan/index.html

American Express provides advice and tips on the various sections of the plan: 

http://www133.americanexpress.com/osbn/tool/biz_plan/index.asp

Getting Investment, Key Factor: Initial Valuation

Getting Investment, Key Factor: Initial Valuation

by Tim Berry

If you are going to get outside investment to start your business, you need to know your initial valuation. Valuation is essentially price. Say you want to bring in $150,000 from an angel investor. The immediate question from the investor will be something like: “at what valuation?” Sometimes that’s called “pre-money valuation,” because the instant the deal happens the valuation will change into post-money valuation, which is always higher — because your company just got some new cash.

Your answer sets your deal equivalent of an asking price. If you say $500,000, then you’re offering the investor 30% of your company for $150,000. If you say $300,000, you’re offering 50%. If you say $1 million, then you’re only offering 15%.  Which leads to the question:

 
So how do I know? How do I set valuation appropriately? What is that based on? Is it some multiple of sales, or intellectual property, or what?

And that’s a good question, and very hard to answer. Sure, you want some compromise between what you want to give, as a percent of ownership in your company, and what investors would want to buy. Investors will simply say no if it’s not an attractive offer. But that’s still very vague.

* In the case of an existing business, with some history, you do have some formulas you can use. For a great site on that business interpretation of valuation, for existing busineses, I suggest bizequity.com, the zillo of small business.

* When we’re talking about startups, however, you don’t have history and you can’t really apply formulas based on sales, or revenue, or even intellectual property (although that could be more relevant).

So here’s my concrete suggestion:   Click here

At this point a lot depends on your overall business offering, the cards your company brings to the table. Investors want as high return as possible, with as little risk, but in relation to return. How experienced is your team? How defensible is your product? How rich is the market? All these factors determine what kind of a deal will be acceptable to investors.

     
* Let’s say, in this case, you’re new at startups, you have very little track record, and you want to attract an active angel investor as a partner. So maybe you set your initial valuation at $750K, meaning you’re offering to give away 2/3 of your ownership to get the money you need. You’re being realistic about what will attract an investor. You better really, really, like that investor, because he or she will essentially own your company. But this is a hypothetical case, and without a lot of experience and defensibility, that may be the best you can do.

          * Or maybe you’ve got better cards to play: you’ve got a team with startup experience, and a defensible new product, with some intellectual property, and it looks like an attractive market. That makes you able to set a stronger valuation, and maybe — we hope — still make it an attractive offer to investors. So maybe you say you’re valuing it at $1.5 million. You’re offering investors one third of your company for $500K.

So there’s a quick and (I hope) simple summary of how you set the initial (pre-money) valuation when you want to attract investment.

Retrieved 11/06/10 from:  http://articles.bplans.com/writing-a-business-plan/setting-an-initial-valuation/617

Business Plan Outline - Example A

Getting started with any business is quite an undertaking.  A business plan clearly states what your business is all about.  A business plan is  important for funding, sponsorship, and many other areas of business start-up and operation.
Please follow the suggested outline and consider the questions listed under each heading. Omit areas that are not applicable to your specific business.

The Cover Sheet

• Identify the business and the document.
• Identify the location and telephone numbers of the business or where the principals can be reached.
• Identify the person who wrote the business plan.

Statement of Purpose

• Who is asking for the money?
• How much money is needed?
• What is the money needed for?
• How will the funds benefit the business?
• Why does this loan or investment make business sense?
• How will the funds be repaid?

Table of Contents

• Section One: The Business

A. Description of Business
B. Product/Service
C. The Market
D. Location of Business
E. The Competition
F. Management
G. Personnel
H. Application and Expected Effect of Loan
I. Summary

• Section Two: Financial Data
• Section Three: Financing Proposal
• Section Four: Exhibits
• Section Five: Supporting Documents


Section One: The Business
A. Description of Business

What business are you in?
What is the status of the business? (startup, expansion, takeover)
What is the business form? (Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation)
Why is your business going to be profitable? (or continue to grow)
When will (did) your business open?
What hours of the day and days of the week will (are) you in operation?
Is your business seasonal?

B. Product/Service

-What are you selling? (not "what are your products or services?")
-What are the benefits (as opposed to the features) of what you are selling?
-How do your products and /or services differ from competing products and/or
services?
-If your product is new or state-of-the-art or otherwise unique, what makes it
different? Desirable?
-If your product or service line is not special, why would people buy from you?

C. The Market

-What are your markets?
-Which ones are buying from you now?
-What products are they buying?
-Who are the people who are buying from you?
-How would you characterize your markets? (growing, steady, declining)
-Why do these people buy from your company?
-Why do they buy from you and not the competition?
-What are they buying from you? On what cycle?
-How can you find more buyers like these?
-What is the size of your market?
-What percent of each market do (or will) you have?
-What is each market's growth potential?
-As each market grows, will your share increase?
-Is the market competitive or not? If not, why not?
-How will you attract and keep these markets?
-How can you expand your markets?

Check out sample exhibits for Annual Sales Forecasts

D. Location of Business

-Where are you located?
-What are the physical features of your building? What should you have?
-Do you lease or own your space?
-What renovations are needed, and how much will they cost?
-Does zoning in your area permit your kind of business?
-What other kinds of businesses are in your area?
-Why did you pick this site over others?
-Why is this the right location for your business? Where should it be?
-How will this choice of location affect your operating costs?
-Are any demographic or other market shifts taking place?

E. The Competition

-Who are your five nearest competitors?
-How is their business? (steady, increasing or decreasing)
-How are their operations similar and dissimilar to yours?
-What have you learned from watching their operations?
-How will your operation be better than theirs?

F. Management

1. Personal history of the Principals
Who is on the management team?
What is your business background?
What management experience have you had?
What education (including both formal and informal learning experiences) has a
bearing on your managerial abilities?

What are your ages, special abilities and interests, reasons for going into
business, where do you live and have lived, etc.

Are you physically up to the job?
Why are you going to be successful in this venture?
What is your personal financial status?

Check out sample exhibits for Owner's Personal Financial Statement.

2. Related work experience
What is your direct operational experience in this kind of business?
What is your managerial experience in this kind of business?
What other managerial experience have you had? (different businesses, clubs,
teams, civic or religious organizations, etc.)


3. Duties and responsibilities

Who does what?
Who reports to whom?
Who makes final decisions?
G. Personnel

What are your current needs ?
What skills will your employees need in the near future? In five years?
What are your plans for hiring and training personnel?

H. Application and Expected Effect of Loan

How much money do you need?
For what purposes will it be used?
Check out exhibits for Sources and Uses of Funds

I. Summary

Summarize ideas developed in the preceding sections.
Make sure the different parts of the analysis make sense, support each other
logically and coherently, and project probable success.

Section Two: Financial Data (forms attached) 
• List additional financial documents to be found in the Exhibits section.
A. Sources and Uses of Funds
B. Capital Equipment List
C. Balance Sheet
D. Break-Even Analysis
E. Projected Income Statement
1. Three Year Summary
2. Detail by Month, 1st year & Quarter, 2nd and 3rd years

F. Cash Flow Projections

1. Three Year Summary
2. Detail by Month, 1st year & Quarter, 2nd and 3rd years

G. Budget Deviation Analysis

H. Historical Records (Balance Sheets, Income Statements and Tax Returns for
past 3 years.

I. Summary
Explain basic assumptions used in their preparation.
Provide other comments necessary to understand the documents
Position the documents in the Exhibits section.

Section Three: Financial Proposal 
• Explain fully your proposal to the lender.

Section Four: Exhibits (as required and/or appropriate) 
Section Five: Supporting Documents 
• For example: Brochures & advertising materials, industry studies, blueprints & plans, maps & photos of locations, magazine or other articles, lists of equipment owned or to be purchased, copies of leases & contracts, letters of support from future customers, other materials which support the assumptions in this plan.

SUBSIDIARY SCHEDULES FORM

Sources of Funds
Owners Investment
A.
B.
Total Owners Investment
Bank Loans
A.
B.
Total Bank Loans
Other Loans
Econ. Develop. Loans
Total Other Loans
Total Sources
Uses of Funds
Buildings/Real Estate
Land/Improvements
Construction
Remodeling
Leasehold Improvements
Total Bldgs/Real Estate
Capital Equipment
Furniture
Equipment
Fixtures
Machinery
Total Capital Equipment
Administrative Costs
Deposits
Prepaid Insurance
Goodwill
Total Administrative Costs
Opening Inventory
A.
B.
C.
D.
Total Inventory
Preopening Expenses
Accounting & Legal
Advertising
Car/Delivery/Travel
Insurance
Interest
Outside Services
Payroll Taxes
Rent
Repairs & Maint.
Supplies
Taxes
Telephone
Utilities
Wages
Misc. 0
Total Pre-opening Expenses
Owners Withdrawal
Working Capital Requirement
Contingency Fund


SUMMARY SCHEDULE FORM

SOURCES OF FUNDS
Owners's Investment
Bank Loans
Other Loans
Total Sources
USES OF FUNDS
Building/Real Estate
Capital Equipment
Administrative Costs
Opening Inventory
Preopening Expenses
Owner's Withdrawal
Working Capital Requirement (from Cash Flow Projection)
Contingency Fund (amount required to make Cash Flow Projection breakeven)
Total Uses

SECURITY AND COLLATERAL FORM

Collateral for Loans .......... Value .......... Description
Note: Value is lower of cost or market value
Total Collateral
Signers for Loans (Requires all major owners)
Guarantors for Loans (Other than owners)

Cash Flow or Cash Projections -

A very important financial activity for your small business is managing your cash flow. Your business accounting software will generate a cash flow statement for you on a regular basis, but that report is different from your cash flow projection. Your cash flow statement is a report of what actually is now; your cash flow projection is what you are anticipating in the future–thus the name “projection”. Your cash flow projection is an integral and ongoing part of your business plan; learning the difference between your cash flow statement and your cash flow projection will help you to manage your business finances more effectively and efficiently.

Your cash flow statement is essentially a summary of your company’s income and outgo of cash receipts and their equivalents. The cash flow statement does not include other types of non-cash transactions such as depreciation or bad debt write-offs. Your cash flow statement tells you how liquid your business is at the time the report is generated by your business accounting software, and is based on past cash transactions. The cash flow statement is one of the financial statements included in your company’s balance sheet.

Your cash flow projection, on the other hard, is a forecast of the cash that you expect to receive and to pay out over a specific period of time. A cash flow projection helps you to better plan for the capital investment your business may need in the future and is another important part of your business plan. Another use for your cash flow projection is as a financial document for your lending institution and/or your investors to show if you expect to have enough cash on hand to cover your obligations. As such, you should prepare, month-by-month, at least one year’s worth of cash flow projections.

When you effectively utilize the features of your online business accounting software and collaborate with your accountant, you will be able to prepare an accurate and up-to-date cash flow projection for the next year, starting with any month you choose.

• The first part of your cash flow projection includes your estimated sales figures for each month of your projected period. This section, called “Cash Revenues”, contains only revenue: that amount you expect to realize from your sales.
• “Cash Disbursements” is the second section of your cash flow projection. Using the expense categories that you have set up in your accounting software, make a list of those expenditures you expect to pay monthly for the period of the cash flow projection.
• The last part of your cash flow projection is your “Reconciliation Report”. This section is very similar to balancing your personal checkbook and making a family budget. You start with your opening balance from the previous month, add your projected revenue, deduct your projected expenses, and the resulting figure is your adjusted cash flow balance which theoretically would be applied to the next month.

As a small business owner, you may be tempted to be overly optimistic about your cash flow revenue projections, especially if you are attempting to procure financing. It is better to err on the conservative side than to be caught without enough cash revenue to cover your expenditures. You can easily use the past financial history as shown in your accounting software; if you do not yet have at least one year’s worth of financial history, you can research similar companies in your industry, and carefully forecast from those examples.

Retrieved from: http://kashoo.com/accounting-small-business-tips/cash_flow_or_cash_projectio/

Cash Flow or Cash Projections