General Business and Finance Blog

Getting started with internet marketing doesn’t have to be an overwhelming experience. In fact, with a little bit of work, you can be well upon your way to marketing a business, product or service in just a few hours. This article will take you through some of the fundamental methods many marketers use the internet.

Method 1: Article Marketing

Article marketing entails writing articles for websites, blogs and article directories related to your websites niche and later distributing them across the net.

There are two primary purposes to article marketing:

Build backlinks

Traffic Generation

The first and arguably best goal of article marketing is to build backlinks. Backlinks are very important to search engines as they help determine the overall value of a website. The more backlinks pointing to a website, the greater value it has to search engine users. With article marketing, you can use your articles to build your own backlinks instead of waiting around for others to link to you.

The second goal of article marketing is to drive traffic to a landing page. The landing page can be any page optimized with content related to the article with the intent to increase sales, convert visitors or just to drive traffic. A well written article that ranks high within search results can have a tremendous effect on boosting traffic to your website.

Method 2: Video Marketing

Video marketing is a relatively new comer to the internet marketing world. The popularity of video has continually seen a rise over the last few years which has translated into great opportunities to market websites, products and services.

Video converts well mainly because it triggers emotional responses much easier than text. Many internet marketers have begun creating promotional videos for websites like Youtube, dropping in a backlink and driving a massive flood of traffic back to the website.

Video creation is very cheap and quick to produce. A small 0 camera or web cam is all that you need to begin producing great videos for your internet marketing campaign.

The two most powerful video marketing topics are:

How-To’s

Reviews

How-to videos help explain a product or service in detail while reviews act as word-of-mouth advertising – it increases conversions.

Method 3: Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click isn’t a new concept and can still be one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to a landing page. One of the biggest contenders to pay per click is Google Adwords.

Google Adwords, which displays within Google search results, is a system where advertisers bid on keywords and create ads related to their niche. These ads, after being displayed, are shown across search results and within the Google network such as Adsense. With enough budget, thousands of visitors can flock to your website in mere hours.

Method 4: Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is a collection of methods and techniques to craft websites to rank well within search results. In a nutshell, search engine optimization (SEO) are various theories (since search engines keep their algorithms a secret) such as keywords, backlinks, on-page optimization and niche relevancy.

With the correct choice of keywords and backlinking (the two most powerful factors of SEO), websites will continue to rise to the top of search engines and gain the majority of clicks which will eventually lead to conversions.

Method 5: Social Media Marketing

Social Media is the newest method of internet marketing and encompass using websites and services such as Facebook, Twitter and even blogging. By far, social media is the most inexpensive way to market your products and services. Using social networks and media, you will be able to generate buzz around your website, products and services by influencing conversations amongst its members.

Here are three ways you can use social media for internet marketing:

Create an ad campaign, fan page or personal page on Facebook and invite users to become your friends. From there, you can talk directly with your community, insert links and drive up traffic to selected landing pages.

Building a following on Twitter will help create a community in which each new tweet (messages sent on Twitter) which includes your link to be shared amongst other users and leads to clickthroughs and conversions.

Blogging is a great way to share information about any number of subjects where users can later comment and share this information with friends online.

Method 6: Email Marketing

Email marketing, much like direct marketing through traditional methods like postcards and physical mail, is by far one of the most powerful ways to market online. After users have opted into your email list, you can slowly drip on them with your marketing messages.

A good rule of thumb is to give away 10x the amount of great information for every email which promotes your products or services.

One of the main draws of email marketing is the ability to retain a list even if your website has low rankings within search engines. Once a user is on your list you no longer have to pay expensive fees as you would through pay per click marketing.

Method 7: Tracking and Conversions

One overlooked aspect of getting started with internet marketing is tracking, testing and converting visitors.

Tracking is a crucial part of every internet marketing campaign so it’s possible to see hard numbers to later determine whether each marketing campaign is successful. Tracking can be as simple as website visitors or the tiniest detail such as user interaction with a form.

Testing, often done through A/B testing, plays a vital role with internet marketing. With each new campaign launch, it’s important to test every segment from the website to the advertising platform to help determine the return on investment of each part.

Finally, converting visitors is the overall goal of internet marketing. The conversion is based on an infinite amount of factors; through rigorous tracking and testing you will be able to see how visitors interact with your landing page and what compels them to buy so you can later reproduce these results more efficiently.

Final Thoughts, Tips and Tricks

Beginning internet marketing take many years to develop a great understand but the fundamentals can be acquired in a relatively short amount of time.

Through various marketing methods such as articles, blogging, video, email and social media you will continually improve the overall effectiveness of your marketing campaign. As each of these methods evolve and you become more experience, you will be able to drive a massive amount of traffic, convert visitors and build a strong online brand.

With over 30,000 locations and fifty years in the burger business, the McDonalds brand is the most recognized and successful franchise in the world. Not surprisingly, before considering anything else many would-be franchise owners ask themselves: How much does a McDonalds franchise cost and how can I buy a McDonalds franchise? They hear it only costs ,000 to get a Mighty Mac franchise, an investment that’s quite within their franchise affordability range.

The McDonalds Franchise Fee
As with most things in life, a little information is a dangerous thing. While it’s true McDonalds charges a ,000 franchise fee, this is only the initial franchise fee for licensing rights – the upfront fee charged to join the network. There’s a LOT more financial commitment and cost involved to buy a McDonalds franchise after that. On top of the investment, there are other qualifications besides having the money.

Different McDonalds Franchise Ownership Options
According to McDonalds, there are two ways to buy a McDonalds franchise and enter their system. The first, and most frequently used method is purchasing an existing restaurant, either one operated directly by McDonalds or from a McDonalds franchise owner/operator. The second, infrequently used way is obtaining franchise rights for a new restaurant. Let’s consider these in reverse order, since McDonalds provides few financial details on the first, most frequently used method.

Buying A New McDonalds Franchise
For franchise licensing rights to a new McDonalds, the company charges its standard ,000 initial franchise fee, except if the franhise is for a McDonalds in a gas station or convenience store, the fee is rduced to ,500. There is also a reduced franchise fee for McDonalds Satellites located in universities, hospitals, etc.

The other cost categories for a new McDonalds franchise include real estate, signage, seats, equipment, decor, opening inventory, training and working capital. These are broken down in Item 7 of the McDonalds FDD.

For a Satellite McDonalds, the range is 8,375 to 8,400; for a McDonalds located in a gas station or convenience store, the range is 0,750 to .2 million. The standard, new McDonalds restaurant clocks in with a range of million to .8 million.

So, basically a new McDonalds franchise is a 8, 375 to .8 million investment depending on the model selected.

The factors impacting new restaurant costs are: size of the McDonalds restaurant facility, area of the country, pre-opening expenses, inventory, selection of kitchen equipment, signage, and style of decor and landscaping, McDonalds says. A detailed breakdown of the initial investment costs into discrete categories, including a working capital component, is provided in the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document which can be obtained at the Franchise Foundations website (see link below).

Owner/operators must pay forty percent (40%) of the total cost from liquid, personal assets and may finance the remainder from traditional lending sources.

Buying An Existing McDonalds Franchise
What about the most frequently used way to buy a McDonalds franchise – purchasing an existing restaurant from a current McDonalds franchise owner or one that’s company-owned by McDonalds and sold as a “turnkey franchise”? Unfortunately, details about how much this type of McDonalds franchise costs are not specified, other than the following statement:

“The purchase price of an existing restaurant varies and is dependent upon a number of factors including sales volume, profitablity, occupancy costs, reinvestment or improvement needs, competition and location.”

To get a better handle on this statement, when existing, “turnkey franchises” are sold in any industry (McDonalds franchises included) the purchase price reflects the value of the business as a going concern, generating (in the case of McDonalds) $ X million in sales and $ Y in profits. A typical McDonalds restaurant that’s been operating for at least one year produces over ,000,000 in annual sales, with profits in the low six-figure range. I estimate the sales price of an existing McDonalds franchise (or company-owned restaurants sold as turnkey franchises) to be in the million to million range, plus or minus. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the purchase price must come from liquid, personal assets and the balance can be financed from traditional lending sources.

Ready to whip out your checkbook? Even if you are, there’s a lot more to obtaining a McDonalds franchise than just have the investment capital.

The McDonalds Franchise – Item 19 Financial Performance Representations
According to the McDonalds FDD Item 19, the average annual sales volume of traditional restaurants in the U.S. open at least one year as of 12-31-09 was ,37 million in 2009. The highest sales volume for a U.S. McDonalds in 2009 was .3 million (the “star” performer). The lowest performing McDonalds clocked in at 7,000.

Item 19 of the McDonalds FDD goes on to list proforma financial results for restaurants that hit three different sales levels – million, .2 million and .4 million, showing cost of sales, gross profit and operating profit at each level. Unlike other franchise companies with similar investment levels, McDonalds steps up to the plate and provides franchise earnings information in Item 19 of its FDD.

Getting the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document
If you would like a copy of the entire 383-page McDonalds FDD published 2010 (or just particular sections of the FDD, like Item 19 Financial Performance Representations or Item 7 Estimated Initial Investment) to review and get further information, go to the McDonalds Franchise page of the Franchise Foundations website.

copyright 2008-2010, Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. – all rights reserved

For further information, visit the Franchise Foundations website

The global financial crisis has made it quite difficult for companies, especially small businesses, to get business loans. Ironically, it is also in this situation that smaller companies often need additional capital infusion to boost income. You may need to get small business loans to acquire a better business location, construct a new building, renovate your premises, pay for new equipment, fixtures or furniture or increase inventory and working capital.

Most Small Business Loans Require Collateral

To get business loans, even small business loans, is a major challenge.

First you need to identify which among the many types of small business loans you need. Small business loans ranging from ,000.00 to ,000.00 are called micro loans. For larger needs, such as for the acquisition of land, buildings and other major fixed assets, development financing is what you should find. There are also import export loans as well as franchise financing. Do your research to find out if you are qualified for small business loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration or SBA.

Any of these small business loans will require extensive preparations and paperwork. As a small business owner, you will need to prove your credit worthiness through a personal credit history report. Lenders will also require a business plan which includes your credentials as the business owner, your company financial statements, business assets and an analysis of your market. All of these should be packaged in a professional loan proposal which presents how the loaned amount will be used to strengthen the business and how you intend to repay the loan. Most of all, you need to present your loan collateral – the assets you will put up to secure the loan.  

Quick and Easy Small Business Loans with No Collateral

For smaller acquisitions or day to day business needs, there is a way for entrepreneurs to get small business loans easily and quickly with no collateral. This is through merchant services.

Merchant services provide credit card services to businesses. This enables them to accept and process payments through credit cards or debit cards either through face to face purchases, online transactions, or even by phone or fax. Merchant service providers supply terminal equipment for card swiping, as well as the necessary software and high speed IP solutions.

Most businesses need credit card services since consumers routinely pay for goods and services through credit cards and debit cards these days. If your business has not taken this step yet, you may have been missing out on more than half of your income potential.

These same merchant services also provide the solution for your small business loans. Collateral-free loans can be availed of through their cash advances, with the loan amount computation based on the monthly credit card revenue your business generates. Credit card sales requirements may be as low as ,000.00 a month. You will not be asked for collateral since your future revenue is your collateral.  

The best types of merchant cash advances do not require fixed monthly payments nor do they impose deadlines on loan payment. A certain percentage is instead deducted automatically from your credit card revenue each month to go towards loan payment. This way, you never have to worry about loan amortization.

Once your cash advance has been fully paid, you may apply for another one. It is like having a revolving credit line. Make sure that you compare the terms of several merchant service providers, though, and read the fine print on contracts. There are so many merchant service providers competing for your business that you’ll surely find one that fits your needs.

The global financial crisis has made it quite difficult for companies, especially small businesses, to get business loans. Ironically, it is also in this situation that smaller companies often need additional capital infusion to boost income. You may need to get small business loans to acquire a better business location, construct a new building, renovate your premises, pay for new equipment, fixtures or furniture or increase inventory and working capital.

Most Small Business Loans Require Collateral

To get business loans, even small business loans, is a major challenge.

First you need to identify which among the many types of small business loans you need. Small business loans ranging from ,000.00 to ,000.00 are called micro loans. For larger needs, such as for the acquisition of land, buildings and other major fixed assets, development financing is what you should find. There are also import export loans as well as franchise financing. Do your research to find out if you are qualified for small business loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration or SBA.

Any of these small business loans will require extensive preparations and paperwork. As a small business owner, you will need to prove your credit worthiness through a personal credit history report. Lenders will also require a business plan which includes your credentials as the business owner, your company financial statements, business assets and an analysis of your market. All of these should be packaged in a professional loan proposal which presents how the loaned amount will be used to strengthen the business and how you intend to repay the loan. Most of all, you need to present your loan collateral – the assets you will put up to secure the loan.

Quick and Easy Small Business Loans with No Collateral

For smaller acquisitions or day to day business needs, there is a way for entrepreneurs to get small business loans easily and quickly with no collateral. This is through merchant services.

Merchant services provide credit card services to businesses. This enables them to accept and process payments through credit cards or debit cards either through face to face purchases, online transactions, or even by phone or fax. Merchant service providers supply terminal equipment for card swiping, as well as the necessary software and high speed IP solutions.

Most businesses need credit card services since consumers routinely pay for goods and services through credit cards and debit cards these days. If your business has not taken this step yet, you may have been missing out on more than half of your income potential.

These same merchant services also provide the solution for your small business loans. Collateral-free loans can be availed of through their cash advances, with the loan amount computation based on the monthly credit card revenue your business generates. Credit card sales requirements may be as low as ,000.00 a month. You will not be asked for collateral since your future revenue is your collateral.

The best types of merchant cash advances do not require fixed monthly payments nor do they impose deadlines on loan payment. A certain percentage is instead deducted automatically from your credit card revenue each month to go towards loan payment. This way, you never have to worry about loan amortization.

Once your cash advance has been fully paid, you may apply for another one. It is like having a revolving credit line. Make sure that you compare the terms of several merchant service providers, though, and read the fine print on contracts. There are so many merchant service providers competing for your business that you’ll surely find one that fits your needs.

Brand building is not reserved just for big companies, small businesses that stand out from the competition all know the value of branding. It doesn’t matter if your business serves only your local community, making it a brand can be very helpful to your business growth. Business that get the most attention are those that people remember and feel connected to. Branding is the way to make that connection with consumers. As a business owner, you implement some of your persona into your  business so it carries your personal touch. Consumers like to do business where they feel comfortable, and today when spending power is limited by the recession, they prefer spending their money with trusted brands and companies. To get recognized by the consumers, invest your energy in building a trustful and recognizable brand that will speak in your name and create a strong bond with consumers.

Branding is a process of creating a clear, original message about your company or product/service. It is a way to generate an image for your small business ideas and differentiate yourself from the competition. Branding means creating a name, logo, tag line, design, fonts and colors that will represent your product and make it memorable. Branding itself is not just about building your company’s image, it  also means making a certain promise to your customers. And that is a promise you need to live up to. 

Branding predefines a company’s image in the minds of its clients. If done properly it differentiates your products and services in a positive way and gets memorized by potential customers. The two most important elements of effective branding and an effective small business marketing are having a great logo and memorable tag line. No matter how great your product/service is, at the end of the day the only thing that matters is the image you create. The success of your product depends on presentation, and that is the simple truth. To get what you want from branding your business, you need to work with professionals specialized in that area. Graphic design is crucial for successful branding. That visual message you will be sending is what will eventually attract customers, or not. A good logo design can help you to perfectly round the story of your business and attract your target customers. Bizcloud professionals specialized in graphic design can offer you a number of original and easy solutions for your company’s logo.

It is proven that every good logo has certain characteristics that make it appealing for the consumers’ eye. The formula for success is to keep it simple. It needs to have a powerful image and distinctive design that is catchy for the eye. Graphic image needs to be appropriate for your company and font should be easy to read. All the details around your logo should be discussed with professionals who can develop your original idea into an effective graphic solution.

A tag line goes along with your logo, and it is a short phrase which delivers a message to your customers. Tag line should express what is your company’s crucial benefit to your customers, and what you want them to remember about what you have to offer. The best tag lines stick in your memory, and no matter how easily you think they are crafted, it takes skill and time to come up with a great tag line. Creating a great logo and tag line are the most important elements in creating a brand that gives the perfect image for your company. After these two basic steps, branding is best implemented through consistency of sending the message you created to your potential customers.

At the annual meeting in 1996, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger commented that, “If you find three wonderful businesses in your life, you’ll get very rich.” At the meeting one year later, he said, “The single biggest recurring mistake I’ve made has been my reluctance to pay up for outstanding businesses.” As a new investor, you may here this and wonder, “Yes, Joshua, but what is it that actually makes a company an excellent business?”To help you understand the traits of an excellent business, I’ve put together some resources that will give you an idea of what you should look for in a stock, and, just as vital, why it is important. Armed with this information, over time you’ll be more likely to build a portfolio of wealth creating assets that can provide financial security for you and your family.An excellent business earns high returns on capital with little or no debtThere seems to be little doubt, based upon the evidence, that it’s easier to build a large net worth through value investing – that is, the disciplined purchase of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other assets that appear to be selling at a substantial discount to a reasonable person’s estimate of intrinsic value (or “the real” value.) Think of it as if you knew a local car wash had gold buried underneath it. The proprietor might be asking $800,000 for the land and enterprise, but you know full well that you could pay substantially more, not only owning the business, but also selling the gold you dug up on the open market. Thus, you had reason to believe that it was being sold for far less than its intrinsic value.The one major shortcoming of this approach is that an asset bought cheap must be sold when it reaches intrinsic value unless it is an excellent business. As Charlie Munger has pointed out, over long periods of time, the rate of return which an investor earns is likely to be very close to the total return on capital generated by a firm, adjusted for dilution in shares outstanding. Thus, you are likely to do better paying fair value for a business that can reinvest its capital at high rates of return – say, over 15% to 20% per annum – than buying a mediocre business trading at a small discount to its liquidation value.For more information, read Business Like Investing: Thinking Like an Owner; on the second page of the article you’ll find information on why return on capital matters.An excellent business has durable competitive advantagesIf you had unlimited funds, do you really believe that with the best pick of any manager in the world, you could unseat Coca-Cola as the undisputed leader in the soft drink industry? How about Johnson & Johnson with its myriad of patents, trademarks, and brand name products? The reason these businesses are able to succeed so well is that they have durable competitive advantages – things that their competitors can’t reproduce.Sometimes these advantages are easy to spot – as is the case of Coca-Cola, which is the second most recognized word on Earth. However, it is possible for them to remain buried. One of the secrets to the phenomenal success of Wal-Mart is that Sam Walton built a distribution system with logistical capabilities that allowed him to lower the transportation costs of moving merchandise to his stores, allowing him to make far more profit than competitors selling at higher prices. He and his fellow shareholders won from the increased income while consumers won from the lower prices. These forces worked in combination with one another, reinforcing and accelerating the results so much that the tiny five-and-dime grew into the largest retailer the world has ever seen.When you buy into a company through the purchase of its common stock, try to identify the durable competitive advantages it has that could stand up from attack by competitors and market forces such as outsourcing and increased globalization.An excellent business is scalableWhen businesses are highly successful, one of the key ingredients more often than not is scalability. Take American Eagle Outfitters, which has one of the best long-term investment records over the past decade. Why was it successful? Target? Wal-Mart? McDonald’s? Coca-Cola? Pepsi? Microsoft? All are excellent businesses in part because they had products or services that could be replicated in cookie-cutter fashion very, very rapidly.Think about it. The McDonald’s in Hong Kong is very much like the McDonald’s in Chicago. And New York. And Southern California. By having the menu, layout, fixtures, and technology packaged in a way that restaurants could be rapidly opened, it made it easier for the chain to roll out across the United States and world. Coupled with its relatively high returns on equity and the cash provided by the franchisees, which footed the bill to build a huge portion of the overall business, it’s not hard to see why the shareholders might consider Ray Kroc as a hero.The price still matters …For those of you too young to remember the Nifty Fifty, this idea of buying excellent businesses was taken to such ridiculous extremes in the 1960’s that investors paid upwards of sixty and seventy times earnings! To contrast, a normal price-to-earnings ratio on Wall Street is considered fifteen; that is, for every $1 in per share profit a company generates, it would trade for $15. It didn’t take a genius to see that even if the business was all it was cracked up to be, at those prices, it would be virtually impossible to earn a satisfactory long-term rate of return.That’s why you need to take a moment to read Price is Paramount to see an illustration of how lower growth rates can actually lead to higher rates of return in certain circumstances.Buy and Holding Investing StrategyAlthough I actively manage my regular investment accounts, and as you know, there are several businesses in which I am involved, one strategy that I use for one of my personal IRA accounts is to select only one business each year that has durable competitive advantages, earns high returns on equity, boasts talented management, has a history of disciplined capital allocation including returning excess capital to owners in the form of cash dividends and share repurchases, and the potential for future growth where I can be reasonably sure that earnings are likely to be materially higher in five or ten years. I then use the entire annual contribution limited to acquire as many shares as possible, instruct my brokerage firm to reinvest all dividends, and practically forget about the holding altogether. At least once a year, I’ll review the company’s progress and results to make sure there aren’t material changes in the underlying quality of the enterprise. For the most part, regardless of market conditions, I simply forget these equities exist.Why, do you ask, would I be inclined to do this when my regular investing results are so good? It’s simple: Insurance against ignorance and overconfidence, as Benjamin Graham called it. There’s no way I can possibly know everything, and as evidenced by the impressive work of Professor Jeremy Siegel, excellent businesses with reinvested dividends over several decades have crushed the broader market. One well-known financial news and commentary company points out in an online product description that only $2,000 invested in Pepsico 25 years ago has now grown to over $150,000; a single share of Coca-Cola bought for $19 with dividends reinvested in 1919 would now be worth more than $5,000,000+. Through market highs, lows, and in-between, these great businesses just keep on compounding. By owning a collection of them, in a retirement account, outside of the realm of my enterprising endeavors, businesses, and active investment portfolio, it’s a quiet reminder to manage my affairs conservatively (as would an insurance company that guards against a 1 in a 1,000 year storm) and let the companies themselves do the heavy lifting. It is also my hope to someday use the account as a sort of living, breathing didactic exercise to prove the merits of compounding to my children, grandchildren, and even – dare I say it – great grand-children.In ways, it’s comparable to what Anne Scheiber did when she amassed a $22+ million fortune from her tiny New York apartment. By selecting value priced, blue chip stocks, the frictional expenses of active management, frequent big / ask spreads, commissions, and taxes are all greatly reduced, leading to more capital compounding for the investor. As Charlie Munger pointed out, by holdings stocks for long periods of time and paying only a single 35% tax at the end (these rates were before the Bush cuts on capital gains), a 15% return would by upwards of 13% by the time it is all done – compared to much, much less – 10% or 11% depending on the circumstances – if the money were made by frequent trading. Over a 50 year time period, a small 3% advantage can result in triple the wealth. You read that right. As one great investor said, this is a game of inches, not of feet and yards. You make the best decisions you can and over time, they amount to something meaningful.How can you go about choosing which stocks should make the cut? Believe it or not, you shouldn’t just go with the cheapest or most undervalued company. That’s because over long periods of time, a stock is likely to compound at the rate the underlying business earns on shareholder equity. That is, provided you’ve paid a reasonable price (remember – Price is Paramount), and Wall Street maintains a consistent valuations as measured by the price-to-earnings ratio, a company earning 13% on shareholder equity will probably compound at that same rate, with dividends reinvested, provided it is held in a tax-advantaged account. Given a ten year or longer time span, you’d be better off owning this business than one earning 8% on shareholder equity but trading at a 30% discount to intrinsic value.

The global financial crisis has made it quite difficult for companies, especially small businesses, to get business loans. Ironically, it is also in this situation that smaller companies often need additional capital infusion to boost income. You may need to get small business loans to acquire a better business location, construct a new building, renovate your premises, pay for new equipment, fixtures or furniture or increase inventory and working capital. Most Small Business Loans Require CollateralTo get business loans, even small business loans, is a major challenge. First you need to identify which among the many types of small business loans you need. Small business loans ranging from $5,000.00 to $35,000.00 are called micro loans. For larger needs, such as for the acquisition of land, buildings and other major fixed assets, development financing is what you should find. There are also import export loans as well as franchise financing. Do your research to find out if you are qualified for small business loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration or SBA. Any of these small business loans will require extensive preparations and paperwork. As a small business owner, you will need to prove your credit worthiness through a personal credit history report. Lenders will also require a business plan which includes your credentials as the business owner, your company financial statements, business assets and an analysis of your market. All of these should be packaged in a professional loan proposal which presents how the loaned amount will be used to strengthen the business and how you intend to repay the loan. Most of all, you need to present your loan collateral – the assets you will put up to secure the loan.  Quick and Easy Small Business Loans with No CollateralFor smaller acquisitions or day to day business needs, there is a way for entrepreneurs to get small business loans easily and quickly with no collateral. This is through merchant services.Merchant services provide credit card services to businesses. This enables them to accept and process payments through credit cards or debit cards either through face to face purchases, online transactions, or even by phone or fax. Merchant service providers supply terminal equipment for card swiping, as well as the necessary software and high speed IP solutions.Most businesses need credit card services since consumers routinely pay for goods and services through credit cards and debit cards these days. If your business has not taken this step yet, you may have been missing out on more than half of your income potential.These same merchant services also provide the solution for your small business loans. Collateral-free loans can be availed of through their cash advances, with the loan amount computation based on the monthly credit card revenue your business generates. Credit card sales requirements may be as low as $3,000.00 a month. You will not be asked for collateral since your future revenue is your collateral.  The best types of merchant cash advances do not require fixed monthly payments nor do they impose deadlines on loan payment. A certain percentage is instead deducted automatically from your credit card revenue each month to go towards loan payment. This way, you never have to worry about loan amortization.Once your cash advance has been fully paid, you may apply for another one. It is like having a revolving credit line. Make sure that you compare the terms of several merchant service providers, though, and read the fine print on contracts. There are so many merchant service providers competing for your business that you’ll surely find one that fits your needs.

With over 30,000 locations and fifty years in the burger business, the McDonalds brand is the most recognized and successful franchise in the world. Not surprisingly, before considering anything else many would-be franchise owners ask themselves: How much does a McDonalds franchise cost and how can I buy a McDonalds franchise? They hear it only costs $45,000 to get a Mighty Mac franchise, an investment that’s quite within their franchise affordability range.

The McDonalds Franchise Fee As with most things in life, a little information is a dangerous thing. While it’s true McDonalds charges a $45,000 franchise fee, this is only the initial franchise fee for licensing rights – the upfront fee charged to join the network. There’s a LOT more financial commitment and cost involved to buy a McDonalds franchise after that. On top of the investment, there are other qualifications besides having the money.

Different McDonalds Franchise Ownership Options According to McDonalds, there are two ways to buy a McDonalds franchise and enter their system. The first, and most frequently used method is purchasing an existing restaurant, either one operated directly by McDonalds or from a McDonalds franchise owner/operator. The second, infrequently used way is obtaining franchise rights for a new restaurant. Let’s consider these in reverse order, since McDonalds provides few financial details on the first, most frequently used method.

Buying A New McDonalds Franchise For franchise licensing rights to a new McDonalds, the company charges its standard $45,000 initial franchise fee. The second cost category associated with establishing a new McDonalds franchise is “Equipment and Pre-Opening Costs.” According to McDonalds, these costs range from $995,000 to $1,843,000. So, basically a McDonalds franchise is a $1 million to $1.8 million initial investment. The factors impacting new restaurant costs are: size of the McDonalds restaurant facility, area of the country, pre-opening expenses, inventory, selection of kitchen equipment, signage, and style of decor and landscaping, McDonalds says. A detailed breakdown of the initial investment costs into discrete categories, including a working capital component, is provided in the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document which can be obtained at the Franchise Foundations website (see link below). Owner/operators must pay forty percent (40%) of the total cost from liquid, personal assets and may finance the remainder from traditional lending sources.

Buying An Existing McDonalds Franchise What about the most frequently used way to buy a McDonalds franchise – purchasing an existing restaurant from a current McDonalds franchise owner or one that’s company-owned by McDonalds and sold as a “turnkey franchise”? Unfortunately, details about how much this type of McDonalds franchise costs are not specified, other than the following statement:

“The purchase price of an existing restaurant varies and is dependent upon a number of factors including sales volume, profitablity, occupancy costs, reinvestment or improvement needs, competition and location.”

To get a better handle on this statement, when existing, “turnkey franchises” are sold in any industry (McDonalds franchises included) the purchase price reflects the value of the business as a going concern, generating (in the case of McDonalds) $X million in sales and $Y in profits. A typical McDonalds restaurant that’s been operating for at least one year produces over $2,000,000 in annual sales, with profits in the low six-figure range. I estimate the sales price of an existing McDonalds franchise (or company-owned restaurants sold as turnkey franchises) to be in the $2 million to $5 million range, plus or minus. Twenty-five percent (25%) of the purchase price must come from liquid, personal assets and the balance can be financed from traditional lending sources.

Ready to whip out your checkbook? Even if you are, there’s a lot more to obtaining a McDonalds franchise than just have the investment capital.

The McDonalds Franchise – Item 19 Financial Performance Representations According to the McDonalds FDD Item 19, the average annual sales volume of traditional restaurants in the U.S. open at least one year as of 12-31-08 was $2,311,000 in 2008. The highest sales volume for a U.S. McDonalds in 2008 was $9,552,000 (the “star” performer). The lowest performing McDonalds clocked in at $491,000. Item 19 of the McDonalds FDD goes on to list proforma financial results for restaurants that hit three different sales levels – $2 million, $2.2 million and $2.4 million, showing cost of sales, gross profit and operating profit at each level. Unlike other franchise companies with similar investment levels, McDonalds steps up to the plate and provides franchise earnings information in Item 19 of its FDD.

Getting the McDonalds FDD Franchise Disclosure Document If you would like a copy of the entire 375-page McDonalds FDD published 2009 (or just particular sections of the FDD, like Item 19 Financial Performance Representations or Item 7 Estimated Initial Investment) to review and get further information, go to the McDonalds Franchise page of the Franchise Foundations website.

copyright 2008-2010, Kevin B. Murphy, B.S., M.B.A., J.D. – all rights reserved

For further information, visit the Franchise Foundations website

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8. Dedicate more time to recruit prospects, as most of the people in your downline are not going to do anything. Only those that are serious will contact you.

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Unless you have the best home based business ideas to know from where to start and how to dominate, it is difficult to set a good foundation for your business. If you’re still searching for a good business on the internet, then pick up the right business for you without wasting time, depending on your passion.  To begin with find one that fits your talent and your budget. Know your audience and stick to it. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be on your way to get what you want in life.