The Reality of Buying Wholesale
In my line of business, I often receive emails and phone calls from people who are just starting their online retail businesses and searching for wholesalers who can give them competitive prices on the latest merchandise from the most popular brand names. While it’s understandable that one would want to sell the latest merchandise from the highest quality, most popular brand names, it’s often an unrealistic goal unless you have a substantial amount of capital to invest in your business.This is not to say that every prospective entrepreneur with the dream of establishing an online retail business should just throw in the towel – quite the contrary. Prospective online retailers need to understand the reality of the consumer goods industry, the abilities that they have based on their capital investment, and then design their business plan a

10 Business Street Smarts
Many business owners or people who are about to start a business have idealistic views about their new venture. People who are experienced in business know that there are some basics and some fundamentals that you must get right if you are to succeed. This article outlines a list of "Street Smarts" which have been distilled from the knowledge and experience of many successful business people. Read them carefully!1. The fatal mistake of many business people – thinking that because they are a good mechanic, baker, accountant, that they understand what it takes to run a mechanical business, bakery business, accountancy business. The most important skill for any business person is to know how to run a business. How much management & business & marketing training have you invested in yourself?2. Make sure you clearly understand the conce

What's in a Face?
I once had a colleague that would roll his eyes at almost every idea that wasn’t his own. Additional facial expressions that complemented the eye-rolling were typically easy to spot as well: puffed cheeks then a release of air, sighs, furrowed brows, and other assorted expressions that gave everyone around the distinct impression that this individual thought he was way too smart to have to sit in meetings with the rest of us. One time someone called him out on it. The most interesting part of all of this was that he really didn’t have a clue that he was an eye-roller. He truly was not aware of the expressions he was making and even more importantly how they were negatively impacting the rest of the team.I’ve found two factors that can lead to problems with facial expressions. The first is the person being completely unaware of the fa

A Serious Warning to Business Owners
Over the past 19 years, I have worked with thousands of business owners in Africa, Canada and the United States. I foresee serious financial adversity looming for many entrepreneurs in the coming years, and perhaps a lot sooner than we may think. And before you conclude that this is mere speculation, let me share some reasons for my concern, and then allow me to offer you a solution.On a macro level, we all know that the dollar’s purchasing power has declined. The “world’s reserve currency” is in trouble. America slips further into debt. Since the end of the gold standard in 1971, this has escalated. With cheap labor increasingly available in India and China and a huge influx of new immigrants into the US and Canada, with the Canadian economy heavily dependant on the US, plus the massive housing bubble, the future is scary for thinking peo

Reduce Payment Processing Costs by Converting Debit-Card Customers to Direct-Debit Payments
It seems that banks are constantly coming up with new ways for us to pay bills and withdraw money. First there were paper checks, then credit cards, then ATM cards, then debit cards linked to bank accounts, and now ACH electronic funds transfers. Of course, with each new payment method comes a new set of fees passed on to account holders and merchants. The smart merchant will weigh the pros and cons of each method with regards to safety, accountability, and processing cost, and then design her business practices to maximize profits without compromising customer service.This article will help merchants do this by comparing two very similar payment methods—debit card charges and bank account ACH direct-debits. It will explain how switching customers who pay with debit-cards to direct-debit transactions can significantly reduce merchant p

Discover the Real Cancer of Our Western Culture
Sit down and think long and hard about the problems people in society face. Think about the problems our communities as a whole face, and try and determine what the probable causes of these are. Chances are things like crime, poverty and relationship breakdown will come to mind and you’re probably going to attribute the cause to money. “Money is the root of all evil,” you’ll probably say now that you’ve thought about some of the major problems our country faces, however I’m going to challenge you right now if you think money is the root of all evil.The Cancer of our Western Culture Revealed…by a Bad Credit Mortgage Expert I know, I know, you’ve probably read that subheading and thought it sounds crazy, and you know what? You’re right! A cancer discovery is something a medical professional makes, and I’m no medical professional. To e