Secrets to Selling Your Business to Google

Filed Under (Personal Finance) by Harvey Zemmel on 13-10-2008

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by Harvey Zemmel

It’s every small business owners dream to be bought by Google. The good news is that they are buyers and they have plenty cash.

We are all familiar with the high profile large deals like its acquisition of Youtube for $1.65 billion but there are plenty of small, low profile purchases too.

There are 7 criteria you need to consider:

1. What types of companies do Google buy?

Google is an engineering centric company focused on hiring the greatest computer scientists in the world. They first build products internally and then pursue acquisitions.

Most acquisitions fall into a well defined set of groups.

Initially, those groups were search, advertising, maps and a general interest/social networking/blogging category.

The groups have now extended to mobile, enterprise and security.

They seek potent engineering talent, high IQ and great IP.

If the company is related to traffic, they require high value traffic that can generate money. They don’t do traffic for traffic’s sake!

2. Deal sizes tend to be small.

At the recent AGM, Brin was asked if they would be making another large purchase like Doubleclick and he said there aren’t many large things. Google prefer smaller acquisitions as it’s easier to integrate smaller teams.

3. Focus on the end user.

Most business owners forget the importance of focussing on the end user. Business start ups focus on competition not end users. Google expects the business owner to understand the end user as they must care about your product, nothing is worse than indifference.

4. Don’t be afraid to tackle the big boys.

Large companies like Ebay and Microsoft have significantly greater manpower and financial resources but they also have drawbacks. They aren’t as hungry or driven as start up businesses who are also more flexible and willing to make sacrifices.

Google bought Youtube which was far superior to Google Video. Ebay bought Paypal as very few people were using Ebay’s Billpoint.

5. Pay attention to details.

When your product is 80% done, that means you have another 80% not 20% to go.

To get something close is easy but it’s vital to focus on the little things. This will set you apart from your competition. You can have the best algorithm in the world but if the user struggles to find out how to click a box, you wont succeed.

6. Will you get swallowed up or retain autonomy?

The answer depends on the role your company will play. If you’re small, you’re more likely to fill a gap and get absorbed in the culture and existing teams. If you’re larger, you may retain more autonomy. Google don’t insist people relocate.

7. What makes deals fail?

The biggest obstacle is lack of openness and honesty.

Disclose everything upfront, even if it’s difficult e.g. disclose you have a contract with a competitor whose terms you can’t legally disclose. If they discover something later, the value of your deal goes to zero not half, but zero. If you disclose tough issues upfront, they’ll work with you to make it happen. If you aren’t open, the trust is gone.

At the recent AGM, Schmidt confirmed that they weren’t going to see more large acquisitions, but they would continue to focus on acquiring talent and technologies.

Harvey Zemmel is a top business exit strategist and author of The Secret to Exceptional Wealth and founder of www.maximizeyourexit.com.

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Credit Repair for the 21st century.

Filed Under (Personal Finance) by Lee Beattie on 06-10-2008

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by Lee Beattie

Credit repair companies must provide this in a written contract that also spells out just what services are to be performed, how long it will take to achieve results, the total cost, and any guarantees that are offered. Under the law, these contracts also must explain that consumers have three days to cancel at no charge. Credit repair clinics do this by challenging every item in a credit file — negative, positive or neutral — with the hope of overwhelming the credit bureau into removing information without verifying it. Credit bureaus are aware of this tactic and often dismiss these challenges on the ground that they are frivolous, a right credit bureaus have under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Credit repair companies are not permitted to collect any fees until after the agreed upon service has been performed. This law is in place to protect you from a typical credit repair scam where a company charges a large upfront fee for service, often times in excess of $1000, and then disappear without doing anything to fix your credit.

Credit repair is the process of mailing letters to the credit reporting agencies which challenge the validity of submissions in your credit file, submissions which may or may not be correct. This can sometimes be useful, especially if one recognizes how to decently craft a letter to the agencies and follow up in a punctual manner. Credit repair companies charge you for affairs that you can do yourself for free. You can challenge errors in your credit report or apply for a secured credit card on your own. Credit repair is kind of a supercilious term, to quote a spokesperson for the Consumer Data Industry Association, a trade group for companies that track consumer credit. This is because many credit-repair agencies assure more than they deliver.

Establishing and maintaining good credit is essential for building a sound financial future. Establishing or repairing bad credit can take some time and you must be patient. It may take up to a year if not more to fix or repair credit from bad to good.

Poor credit costs you extra thousands and in that respect seems to be no way out. You require a house and a car and because of less than ideal credit you pay up more money for mediocre house and more money for less car. Bad credit becomes an topic, when you want to make a major purchase such as a house, car, appliances, etc. When you apply for a loan or a line of credit, the creditor with whom you are applying for a loan, instantly pulls your credit history file. Bad credit basically defines you every bit a risky borrower and equally probable to default in loan repayment. This may appear unjust, but it’s still not unimaginable to get bad credit personal loans.

Companies use pre-screening as a pre-qualification for credit. With it they can approximate your financial visibility without interpreting your current credit report. Companies study your credit report before settling whether to give you credit. When a company refuses your request for credit because of your credit report, it must tell you so and identify the credit bureau that provided the report.

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Purchasing Top Stub Checks

Filed Under (Personal Finance) by Grace Winderfilm on 29-09-2008

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by Adam Messolopolis

Purchasing top stub checks direct from the check printer will give you more choice and save you money at the same time. Hundreds of assorted check designs for every category imaginable are available online.

There are so many categories such as every type of pet, breed of dog, wildlife scenes, wildlife causes, America and patriotic themes, ocean themes, waterfront themes, lighthouses, sports teams, colleges and universities, trains, planes and automobiles and many more. The themes cover a huge variety of categories in almost any imaginable category.

You’ll have fun in the process of look through the various designs these check design artists have created. Later you are given a choice of wallet style checks, end stub checks or top stub checks to choose from. Stubs are designed to make record keeping easy and convenient. If you are a business there are other types of checks as well as computer checks available.

Little things add to the visual effect of a personal check. Sometimes it can be just a simple monogram, slogan, symbol or design that makes it just right.

A huge selection of typefaces and fonts are available to help you create the overall impression you want to convey with the type. You can use it to create a byline or message. You also have control of background shadows to enhance the type’s visual effect if you so choose.

Some of these kinds of lettering styles range from standard block lettering to a calligraphic or artisan style. You only need to complement the overall design of your check to make it fit the affect you are trying to create.

When it comes to choosing commercial check printers you?ll find many to choose from. They operate independently and have different artists and graphic configurations and palates to choose from. The highlight from ordering direct from the manufacture is the large selection and the savings (usually in the 50% area). You’ll get immediate delivery and cut out the bank middleman charges.

from an ample choice of lettering styles from the very popular standard block lettering to calligraphic alphabets and numbers are available. When you complement the general feel and look of your

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Choosing the best cover for Holiday Homes Insurance

Filed Under (Personal Finance) by David Ball on 25-09-2008

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by David Ball

Many people buying a holiday home or second home in the UK or in Europe are offered holiday home insurance cover by an insurer, broker, their foreign agent or notary. Of course it is too easy not to say “No”, but the cover offered may not be suitable due to the special insurance requirements needed for a holiday home or second home.

With the inherent risks of owning a holiday home in the UK or abroad being substantially greater than that of your main residence, there is a real need for holiday homes insurance policy written in plain English which pays particular attention to the special requirements for second homes and which also provides a wide band of cover.

Not every property has a swimming pool. Certain features are considered to be of vital importance, and therefore overseas home insurance cover for loss of use, legal liability for domestic staff, public liability and accidental damage to domestic supplies should be included as standard. Your holiday property insurance should also ensure that all local taxes on overseas properties are included within the premium. Buildings and Contents cover should be flexible so that owners do not end up paying for cover that they do not need.

The true value of any insurance is however only fully appreciated when a claim is made. Holiday home owners who own a property overseas and have overseas holiday home insurance should be spared the difficulties of discussing their claim with a foreign agent via a continental telephone call, and should be able to speak directly to experienced English staff that will provide assistance and be fully responsible for liaising with the overseas loss adjusters.

Although low premium rates are often of importance, the overseas house insurance cover should be simple to understand, offer a high level of security and in the event of a claim a satisfactory result. You might think that the best thing to go for is cheap holiday home insurance, but you really need to ask yourself whether you are really that well covered with the cheapest policy?

You must get specialist overseas holiday property insurance. And you must get insurance for buildings and contents designed exclusively for properties used as holiday homes or let for holiday use. Using an insurance agent who does not specialize in, or fully understand the requirements of your holiday home or let property, you may find that you do not have adequate cover to fully protect your holiday home. It is essential that you get the correct property insurance to suit the specialized requirements needed for your holiday home.

As an owner of a holiday home abroad, it is vital that you fully understand the extent and limitations of your insurance policy. Do you have cover for legal liability for domestic employees? What restrictions are in place when letting and un-occupancy etc? And most important of all what do you do in the event of a claim?

If your holiday home insurance policy has been placed through an insurance agent in the following countries: UK, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus Greece, Ireland, Malta, Monaco or Andorra , it is more likely that they have not informed you and that you simply do not know.

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Stock Picks And The 5 Winning Order Types

Filed Under (Personal Finance) by Michael Cohen on 07-09-2008

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by Michael Cohen

Experts know there are 5 different types of order you need to know about when it comes to trading stocks, and here is the skinny on each type of trade:

1. Market Orders. Use a market order when you want to get in or out of the market, no matter what. It lets you get in or out at the best market price, using the nearest bid or ask (buy price or sell price) at that moment. Do not use a market order in a thinly traded market, especially one that isn’t trading actively, since there may be no one to match your order with, and this leaves you open to dangerous consequences.

Since the price you get (or pay) is unknown, you should have some risk tolerance for this order type. Luckily in strong fast moving markets, market orders are one of the only ways to ensure you get in or out of the market.

2. Limit Orders. Limit orders are like market orders, except you specify a price. This means you can “buy 100 shares at 30″ and be sure that if your order is filled, you will get it at 30 or better. This is good when you need a certain price to ensure profits, or the market is choppy, and you want to ensure you get filled at a good price.

Sometimes your broker will charge a bit more for limit orders, since they can often remain unfilled, and it requires more of their time to monitor and process the order.

3. Stop Order. This is a market order that is triggered once your stock reaches a specific target price, the stop price. Stop orders may also be called stop-loss orders, because they help investors put constraints on their losses.

4. Stop-Limit Order. This is identical to the stop order, except for the fact that a limit order is triggered once your stock reaches a specific target price.

5. Trailing Stop. Basically, this is a stop order based on a percentage change in the market price.

These order types are very important to master in every financial market, since using the right order type in a particular market condition is essential to profiting from good stock tips.

Simply put, some orders perform better than all the others in a certain market condition. For example, in October 1987 (Black Monday), stop limit orders caused many people to get caught with huge loses on their hands.

When you start off, it is best to do some paper trading, and all the top brokerages let you set up training accounts where you can do online paper trading.

Once you get comfortable with all the order types, and getting your orders entered and filled, and you start to see success, then you can switch over to a cash or margin account and trade for real.

It does not take long before you will be on par with the professional traders, who trade with the precise order type with every trade they make. And remember, these order types work in all markets, including shares, options, commodities and foreign exchange markets.

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What You Need To Know: Claiming Against Uninsured Drivers

Filed Under (Personal Finance) by John Manning on 04-09-2008

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by John Manning

If you have ever been hit by an uninsured driver then the whole event may have caused you heartache, a headache and even a little wallet ache! Claiming for the damage inflicted on your car is nothing short of a nightmare unless you are one of the very few lucky ones. If you have never been hit by an uninsured driver then you are undoubtedly lucky but you should still know the process because the vast majority of car insurance quotes do not cover you against uninsured drivers at all.

All car insurance companies hate those uninsured drivers because their accidents cost them in the millions of pounds every single year. The damage they inflict is substantial and so it is no wonder that car insurance quotes do not include provision for cover against them a high percentage of the time. The possible cost is too much so you are literally left high and dry if it ever does happen.

You should firstly check your car insurance policy to see whether or not you are covered in the event of an accident involving an uninsured driver. If you are then you are one of the lucky ones that is just required to claim in the regular way via the provider itself. However, if you are not covered under your insurance company then you will have to pursue compensation by yourself.

If you are not covered for it then it could potentially take years to get your money back in the form of compensation, and that does not always cover the full costs. You can claim whether your car is a write off or just in need of repairs. If you have an insurer offering cover against uninsured drivers then you will just have to claim in the normal way so you will get the full cost back within weeks. However, you otherwise have to go through the Motor Insurance Board (MIB) instead.

The MIB was specifically set up to help law abiding drivers to get the compensation they deserved after an accident involving an uninsured driver. The compensation comes after they have taken legal action for you against the driver in question. However, you do have to follow their procedure to the letter to ensure that the time taken to do so is cut.

Firstly, you should double check that the individual is not insured by running a DVLA vehicle check and then lodging a formal complaint with your local police force. It is obviously an offence to drive without insurance but it is also one to refuse to give insurance details in the event of an accident. Even if you cannot claim with them, you should also tell your car insurance company about the accident so they know. This is a requirement of most policies.

Finally you can make the claim! Simply fill in the MIB form, which can be obtained from the website, and email it back or post it. You should tell them everything you know so they can get the case underway sooner rather than later. The sooner the claim, the sooner the matter will be settled.

The process of going through the courts against an uninsured driver can be tedious because it seems to take forever. However, uninsured drivers add approximately 30 pounds to your premium every year as a result of the accidents they cause so make a stand!

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