Just Elementary, Inc. » Business Tips
Marketing Business Listings for Business Brokers
What are some tips to marketing businesses for sale online? A lot these tips also apply to online marketing in general. When it comes to marketing a business listing online there are many sources, such as www.Bizben.com, www.bizquest.com, www.bizbuysell.com, www.craigslist.org, etc. The challenge is that a lot of businesses are listed on these websites, so how do you ensure that your listing(s) stand out? Keywords, Keywords, and more Keywords. Use pictures in your ads. Post … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips, Online Marketing
Don’t be fooled by Groupon, Living Social and the Like, Discounting is Not Your Friend
If you are in a retail storefront business living on small margins, don’t be fooled by Social Discounting services like Groupon, Living Social, etc. Giving away your product for free is bad advertising and even worse for your business. Why is it bad advertising? Well, you are showing that you are not interested in receiving full price for your product, which is a turn off for your established regular customers. Discounting attracts shoppers who shop on … Read entire article »
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Tips to make your business easier to sell or transfer to heirs or employees
If you are going to one day sell or transfer your business to heirs or employees via an E.S.O.P., then you need to consider factors that will make the business easier to transition to a qualified buyer or even your heirs. Here are 10 tips to consider. #1. Have a good lease that is reasonably assignable. If your lease is a problem, then renegotiate it. Difficult leases are a non-starter for good buyers, they don’t want an … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips, Selling A Business
How to Sell a Business to an E-2 (E2) Visa Buyer
If you are the seller of a business in the United State and you are considering selling to a buyer of an E-2 (E2) visa, here are some facts that you should be aware of: What is an E Series Visa For? The E Series visas are designed for foreign nationals who wish to immigrate to the United States to conduct business. The Two Types of E Series Visas: The first is the E-1 Treaty Trader … Read entire article »
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Business Lessons from Shark Tank Season Finale
First up in the season finale of Shark Tank is the prominently featured Rebecca Rescate of CitiKitty. Rebecca Rescate’s CitiKitty is a product that is an alternative to the traditional cat litter solution. This product helps trains cats to use actual Human toilets. As funny as it looks watching a cat on a toilet, it does solve a problem, especially for urban dwellers whose cats can not easily go outdoors and use a yard for their bathroom needs. Rebecca … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips, Business Valuation, Negotiation
Negotiation and Valuation Lessons from ABC’s Shark Tank
Episode 207 of ABC’s Shark Tank elicited many responses, and as usual contained a great many business lessons on display, in particular regarding Valuation and Negotiation. First up in the Shark Tank were Jason Lucash & Michael Szymczak of OrigAudio. They asked for $150,000 for 15% equity. Their company sells portable audio speaker solutions. On the show they claimed to have a track record of sales. In their one year of sales they have grossed $750,000, upon … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips, Business Valuation, Negotiation
Q&A With Deidrea Haysel of Hot Mama Gowns
Deidrea Haysel of Hot Mama Gowns was kind enough to answer a few questions regarding her experience on ABC’s Shark Tank. For some background on the episode that Haysel was featured in, we wrote about the business lessons on display in that episode in this post. Just Elementary: Was there any bump in notoriety and publicity for Hot Mama Gowns after the taping of the show, but Before the Show Aired? Deidrea Haysel: No, not necessarily, and if there was it … Read entire article »
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Q&A With Les Cookson of CarSik Bib
Les Cookson of CarSik Bib was kind enough to answer questions via email about his product lines and his experience on ABC’s Shark Tank. Just Elementary: How has the interest in the product jumped since the show featuring you aired? Les Cookson: Well, the CarSik Bib has basically jump from being completely unknown to having at least some degree of name recognition. This has opened a lot of doors and I’m weighing all … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips
Know thy Valuation, more lessons from Shark Tank
Brothers Stuart and David Pikoff were featured in the final segment of the show. Their company is Games2U. As of the time of taping the segment, Games2U was successfully franchised in 28 states. Though it still suffered from business valuation issues due to profitability and sustainability. The Pikoff brothers asked for $500,000 in exchange for a 10% equity in Games2U. This means they were valuing Games2U at $5,000,000. Yes, Five Million Dollars. What justified that … Read entire article »
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California Contractor’s License Transfer & Sales
Do you need to get a California Contractor’s license transferred to you? If so, then you have a few choices of how to get a contractor’s license into your possession. They all ultimately involve dealing with the Contractor’s State Licensing Board. And well, as you well know, dealing with state licensing boards can be a real hassle and headache. While the Contractor’s State Licensing Board is good at their job, working with them can be a slow, … Read entire article »
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Shark Tank Week 5 Business Lessons
The week Five Episode of Shark Tank featured more small business lessons. First up was Hot Mama Gowns, which is a line of stylish maternity gowns that can be used Pre and Post Partum, or in plain English, before, during and after childbirth. Hospital Gowns are quite frankly unappealing and this product does fill a good need. Looking presentable, as opposed to be looking ridiculous, is an important part of feeling good, and feeling good is important … Read entire article »
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Lack of Quality Business Plans on Shark Tank Week Four
The week four episode of ABC’s Shark Tank featured Four key examples of how writing a business plan is incredibly important to showing a business owner a path to success. Do not create a startup business without a business plan, it will lead a higher frequency of mistakes which cost time and money and could ultimately lead to a premature end of a business or product. There are four painful examples of improper business planning yielding … Read entire article »
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Retail, Branding, Goal Setting on Display Shark Tank Week 3
After having some negotiation blunders and tactics take the headlines from previous episodes of ABC’s Shark Tank, week three’s episode featured lessons on branding, food, and the overall retail industry. Never fear though, negotiation lessons are always on display on the Shark Tank. The first pitch came from Darryl and Randy Lenz who were there to pitch there Ride On Carry On product. Their product is essentially a strap on child seat, which straps onto luggage. … Read entire article »
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Small Business Lessons from ABC’s Shark Tank
From the week two episode of ABC’s Shark Tank There were four main themes: negotiation techniques, valuation realities, knowing your which business your business should be in, and being the right pitchman for your business. First up was Kiersten Hathcock of Mod Mom Furniture. Hathcock came to pitch her business and raise capital to expand her product line from just Eco Friendly Modern Toy Boxes to a full children’s furniture line. There were a few lessons … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips, Uncategorized
More Business Lessons from Shark Tank
Onto the quote-unquote week one episode of the Shark Tank, which is the second episode since the show emerged for a second season. This episode, like all of the episodes, contained a lot of small business lessons that are valuable to have on a life’s journey of entrepreneurship. Lesson #1: Negotiation Snafu: Giving Away Leverage First up was Nikki Pope of Toygaroo. Toygaroo is a great concept of a membership in a rental toys plan. Toys were … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips, Negotiation
Business Lessons from ABC’s Shark Tank
There are many lessons to be learned from the participants, both the Sharks and the people pitching their business, of the television show called Shark Tank which is currently airing on ABC. Both the Sharks and the business people pitching their business offer valuable insights. Let’s start with the ‘Preview Episode’ that aired on March 20, 2011 and repeated on August 5, 2011. The final segment was James Martin of Copa Di Vino. James Martin runs … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips
Fixed versus Variable Costs
When it comes to analyzing the business model of a operating business, one of the important items to focus on is the expenses. One way that people often quote the expenses of their business is as two types: Fixed and Variable. Fixed expenses are those recurring expenses that do not vary on a frequent basis, or are indexed and have predictable amounts. Lease is a primary fixed expense, and is commonly indexed with periodic increases such … Read entire article »
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What is Dual Agency?
A common refrain from prospective buyers involves confusion on the Dual Agency Relationship between a broker, seller and the prospective buyer. One of the natural questions a buyer has is: ‘Who is the broker going to be representing?’ Legally speaking in California, the matter is simple, if there is only one broker involved, the broker is going to be interpreted as acting as a Dual Agent. This puts the onus on the broker to get … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips, Negotiation
Why is it so Hard to Find a Good Business?
Frequently we are asked why it is so difficult to find an existing business to buy. There are many reasons for this. Lack of a Central Database of businesses for sale Difficulty to Properly Investigate the viability of a business for sale Lack of properly advertised information Not being able to rely on one Commercial Business Broker? Not having the proper criteria in place before beginning your search Let’s look at these a little more in depth, starting with the Lack … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips
4 Reasons to Buy A Laundromat.
Without further ado, here are the commonly bandied around reasons why laundromats seem like great investments. 1. Passive Income 2. The Business Offers a Valuable Service for the Neighborhood that you can take pride in providing 3. Flexible Hours 4. Simple Cash Business You just got back from that Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, T. Harv Eker seminar and you are pumped to get some passive income. Yes, and Laundromats may have come up as a source of passive income. So … Read entire article »
Filed under: Business Tips
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