Some franchises are very good. They treat both the franchisor and the franchisee very well. Others are very one-sided. Still others are almost total rip-offs that trap one into paying ten to fifty times the actual value of the business idea, equipment, or whatever it is they are trying to get you to buy.

Before putting any money into a franchise, you should investigate everything completely. We’ve prepared a list of questions you should be asking, and should get satisfactory answers to before investing.

1. Has your attorney studied the franchise contract, discussed it completely with you, and do you both approve it without reservations?

2. Does the franchise require you to take any steps which are either illegal or even border on illegal, or are otherwise questionable or unwise in your state, county or city?

3. Does the franchise give you an exclusive territory for the length of the franchise period, or can the franchisor sell a second franchise in your territory?

4. is the franchisor connected in any way with any other franchise company handling similar products or services?

5. If you answered yes to the above questions, what is your protection against the second franchising company?

6. Under what circumstances can you end the franchise contract, and at what cost to you?

If you sell your franchise, will you be compensated for your goodwill or will it be lost to you?

8. How many years has the firm been offering you the franchise been in operation?

9. Does the company offering you this franchise have a reputation for honesty and fair dealing among its franchisees?

10. Has the franchisor shown any certified figures indicating exact net profits of one or more of its members, and have you personally checked the figures with these people?

11. Will the franchisor assist you with: a) A management training program; b) An employee training program; c) A public relations and advertising program; d) Capital; e) Credit; f) Merchandising ideas?

12. If needed, will the franchisor assist you in finding a suitable location?

13. Is the franchising firm adequately financed so that it can carry out its sated plans?

14. Does the franchisor have experienced management, trained in depth?

15. Exactly what can the franchisor do for you that you cannot do for yourself?

16. Has the franchisor investigated you carefully enough to assure itself that you can successfully operate a profit to both of you?

17. Does your state have a law regulating the sale franchises, and has the franchisor complied with that law to your satisfaction?

18. How much equity capital will you need to purchase the franchise and operate it until your income equals your expenses?

If you can get the answers to each of these questions, and those answers satisfy you, then you’re probably thinking about buying a pretty good franchise deal. However, if you’re in doubt about any of these points, be sure to check it out and know the answers for certain before you invest or sign anything.

Buying a franchise can give you a measure of security, and in some cases, sure-fire profits. Business surveys show that fewer than 20 percent of all franchised businesses fail. This is in comparison to a 60 to 80 percent failure rate for ALL new businesses started in this country each year.

Information regarding specific franchising ideas can be found in the franchising directories, which are generally available at the local library. Often there will be a notice posted in franchise outlets themselves.

If you can afford the entry into this business, statistics are on your side. You are now armed with some CAUTION and STOP and GO signs!

Rocket Scientists would never begin construction on a new booster rocket without a detailed set of design specifications. Yet most of us go blindly out into the world without an inkling of an idea about finances and without any plan at all.

Not very smart of us, is it?

A money plan is called a budget and it is crucial to get us to our desired financial goals.

Without a plan we will drift without direction and end up marooned on a distant financial reef.

If you have a spouse or a significant other, you should make this budget together. Sit down and figure out what your joint financial goals are…long term and short term.

Then plan your route to get to those goals. Every journey begins with one step and the first step to attaining your goals is to make a realistic budget that both of you can live with.

A budget should never be a financial starvation diet. That won’t work for the long haul. Make reasonable allocations for food, clothing, shelter, utilities and insurance and set aside a reasonable amount for entertainment and the occasional luxury item. Savings should always come first before any spending.

Even a small amount saved will help you reach your long term and short term financial goals. You can find many budget forms on the internet. Just use any search engine you choose and type in “free budget forms”.

You’ll get lots of hits. Print one out and work on it with your spouse or significant other. Both of you will need to be happy with the final result and feel like it’s something you can stick to.

The 80-20 rule was first discovered by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto a hundred years ago. Using this knowledge is incredibly powerful in combating the “not enough hours in the day” mentality of today’s society.

The 80-20 rule means that in any area of our lives, literally 80 percent of our fruits are derived from only 20 percent of doing “what matters”. In other words, there is only a very small portion of all that we do each day, regardless of the situation, that brings us the “higher return”.

How can you benefit from being aware of this principle? Implementing a strategy based on the 80-20 rule can result in greater wealth and greater leisure time? Just imagine how productive you will be if 80% of your time could be spent on productive activities. You have to realise that the things that matters most should never be at the mercy of activities that matter least.

Here are 5 Steps to maximumise your productivity:

1) Keep a work log for at least a week

Write down all of your activities and the time spent doing them. I appreciate this is time consuming initially but it is essential you get a true picture of your working week.

2) Analyse your activities

Separate your activities into high priority – those that produce a return or where only you have the skills to do the work – and low priority – activities others can do where the activity can be delegated to support staff. You will almost certainly find that you are spending most of your time on low-priority activities rather than activities directly providing a return. In almost all businesses these non productive activities tend to absorb time at a far greater rate than they should.

3) Delegate non productive activities

Once you can identify the low priority activities delegate as many as possible to support staff providing training where required. If necessary employ an additional member of staff to take responsibilities – the cost will be more than offset by your improved productivity. There may be a number of low priority activities you are tempted to keep. Unless it is absolutely unavoidable don’t be tempted and don’t get involved in non productive activities or your productivity will fall.

4) Calculate the time required for any remaining low priority activities

Once you have delegated all that you can, your next step is to calculate how much time you should be spending on the remaining low priority activities to make maximum use of your productive time. Do not work disproportionately hard at these low priority activities and set aside specific time each day or week to complete them.

5) Prioritise your remaining activities

Once you have cleared out the activities that do not bring you any return, it is time to turn your attention to the activities in your life that are bringing the most reward. Prioritise your activities and concentrate most of your time just on a few high-priority activities.

The objective throughout is to maximize your results from the areas of high return and to delegate those activities that have a low return. Having to spend a disproportionate amount of time on non productive activities is a major source of stress for many businessmen. Delegating these activities will therefore have the added benefit of reducing the stress you are under. It is all about doing less work for greater return.

For more success in life, whether that is more money, more time with your family or just making time for golf you should start implementing the 80-20 rule immediately. It will help your career as well as your personal life and, as a bonus, following the 80-20 rule day in and day out can make you very wealthy over the long term.

With work from home assembly jobs you are going to be given the parts that you will need to put together. These can be all sorts of things, so you will be able to find work from home assembly jobs in any different area that you are interested in. in fact, you might be able to find several different work from home assembly jobs that you can have at the same time. This can be an easy way for you to make the money that you need to make and to be able to take care of your family.

With work from home assembly jobs you will be located at your home, and the companies or people will ship things to you to be put together. There are all sorts of these things that you might be interested in, and all sorts of things that will need to be put together. Therefore, work from home assembly jobs are very popular and are jobs that you will be easily able to find.

When you have work from home assembly jobs you will have to have a home area or an office where parts can be brought or shipped to you. Once you have them you will put them together in whatever way you would like to ,and then either ship them on or wait for them to be picked up. This is how work from home assembly jobs and they are very good jobs for lots of people.

There are some things to remember about work from home assembly jobs however. First of all, you want to be sure that as you are doing work from home assembly jobs you are understanding the various things that you have to put together. Also be sure that you are leaving yourself enough time to do the actual work so that you are able to get all of the work done in the right time frame. Be sure as well that you have researched the company so that you know you are working for a company that is legit and that the job will also be legit. This is something that will be very important with any work form home job. When you have work from home assembly jobs, you want to be sure that you are able to know where the parts are coming from, what you are supposed to be doing with them, and what to do with them when you are done. Remember that you should not take work from home assembly jobs that are requiring you to do anything illegal. Make sure the pay is right for you as well.

Its called “opportunity investment” and it has nothing to do with the traditional way to invest. Stocks, bonds, shares etc.

This is hands on. The entire premise is based on compounding and becoming the “investor source”

You see when we hand over our funds to “professionals” to invest our capital we dilute our returns dramatically. It makes sense if you think about it. They have no interest or incentive to manufacture returns any better then maybe 10% if you are lucky.

“Opportunity Investment” is a term that describes the process of taking responsibility for your own funds. Thereby becoming your own “investor source” What that means is that you determine by your daily actions and decisions, what your returns will be. I have managed over 2500% per year and it was easy. Starting with just $100 and on a whim, I compounded that in to $1 million dollars within 27 months

I discovered this 5 years ago. There is a book written by a guy who pioneered this formula and lives the results every day. Hayden Muller. The book is called “The inside trade secrets to an ethical opportunity investor”

The idea is to identify “investment objects” that are endowed with “excess intrinsic value” By recognizing profit where others do not we put ourselves in the position to access this unseen stored portable value and transform it into profits which we pyramid and compound into a rapid fortune.

Its my opinion that this is not new at all. I believe, this is the narrow path that all “high net worth individuals” discovered for themselves. What is novel and new is the way its packaged as a book and disclosed freely to all who choose to recognise its worth.

I am so impressed with it, as were my associates, that we invested in an online resource to share with the many who already compound their wealth rapidly and certainly day by day. (Theres a link to the site below if you wish to learn more)

Theres revolution in the air. Ordinary people are daring to reach for their first million and taking it. Millions are not content to work their whole lives, then retire then die. They express it by their actions. They are living in large comfortable homes. They are sending their children to good schools, driving nice cars and living the life they choose today not tomorrow.

We are part of that paradigm shift and we fan the flames with knowledge. Wealth education need not be complicated. Your wealth education could be alot simpler and direct if you choose it to be. Simpler is always better, and opportunity investment is the bare bones. The structure is robust and direct. Take it and earn like the many who already do.

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Meg’s character owned a quaint little bookstore which she inherited from her mother. Although the prices of her books were a little steep, she makes up for it in service. She packs the books in a specialized bag, and she knows all of her customers by name.

Tom’s character, on the other hand, moved into town to build a branch of a big chain-bookstore which offered discounted prices and a huge building, as compared to Meg’s little bookshop on one corner of the town’s streets.

In the end, Meg was forced out of business because her customers went to Tom’s monstrous bookshop.

Nowadays, this situation will not hold true anymore.

More and more small organizations are paving the way and giving big businesses a shot of their own medicine.

In the movie, the reason why Meg Ryan was forced out of business is because she cannot profit anymore. Her prices are steep as compared to the other big business’ discounted rates.

Her only edge is that she gives personal service, she knows her customers by name and she has a very small staff, about 2 or 3 employees.

As a small organization you may turn around and have these qualities as your edge to compete against the big sharks in business.

Here are some tips on how you can hold your own against a big business:

1. Small businesses have big competition.

This means that you need to know how to survive out there.

No matter what nature of business you have, it is better to learn about the competition so that you will be able to survive.

Here are some tips on how you can survive the big competition:

>Keep your business alive.

When it seems as if your cash flow is in a downward slope, keep a tight rein on your budget.

Do not spend on unnecessary business purchases and always balance your books.

If you are one to buy on impulse or if you are the type to listen to those who sweet-talk you into purchasing “necessary” items, control yourself.

Get a second and third opinion if possible, as these impulsive buys may lead to the end of your small organization.

>Do not be afraid to seek professional help.

The fall of most small businesses start with decisions on problems which are not carefully analyzed.

Although you think that you already have a contingency plan, make sure that you have foreseen the results of a certain business decision.

In the long run, it is better to seek professional help rather than embark on a plan that could start the downfall of your business.

>Keep your books straight.

The better option is for you to hire a professional outside accountant to figure the returns of your investment and handle the other financial aspects of your business.

>Take advantage of every free business counseling whenever available.

This does not just help widen your knowledge, but it will also give you an idea of how other businesses are ran by small-scale owners.

>Know exactly where your business is headed.

In your day-to-day operation, make sure that you know where you want your company to be 5 or 10 years from now.

Be always aware of the trends in the industry that you are in, practice good money management and learn how to recognize potential problems before they arise.

2. Learn how to market your small organization.

Marketing is not about trying to sell your products and services to everyone.

It is about knowing who to market your products to.

In marketing, it is good to remember these fast facts:

> Know about your customers.

>Communicate with your customers.

>Build a good and personalized relationship with your customers.

This will be a great edge for you to have against the bigger companies.

They might offer discounted prices but it is harder for them to keep track of customers on a more personal basis.

>Do not stop the marketing process.

As a small organization, you need to routinely review the markets that you need to pursue so that you can better reach out to your customers.

Remember, small organizations are big businesses these days so do not be afraid to work hard for the company that you have – not matter how small.

If you work hard, make wise business decisions, learn how to market your small business and personalize your customer interaction, your small-scale business is sure to rise to the top.

Have you ever heard the saying, “be careful what you wish for”, when describing to someone what it is that you want? This implies that there will be a negative outcome if you actually get what you want. This saying is actually a phrase that is steeped in fear.

Over the centuries there have been many stories written about people who wished for something and when they got it bad things happened to them. The unfortunate thing about these stories is that they are mostly circulated when we are children. We are told stories about people who wished for things that when they got them, the bad things started to happen. So let’s dissect a theory on where these stories may have had their origin.
Have you ever noticed that the desires of children sometimes seem to be insatiable? When you take a child to a grocery store they always seem to ask for something. When they watch television, the commercials that they see are created to arouse desire within them to have the products that are advertised. You can often find yourself in a relentless battle with children telling them that they can not have everything that they want. So what would be an easy way to say no without actually using the word?

Please do not bail on me until you read past the next two paragraphs, I am going to tell a story as an example here….

One way would be to tell them the story about the little boy who wished for everything. One day he found a rock laying by the side of the road that seemed to be glowing. He cupped his hands around it to provide darkness and indeed it glowed in the dark. He put the stone in his pocket and headed home. When he arrived at home, he went to his room and removed the stone from his pocket. As he looked at it, he wished that he had a nice wooden box to keep his new treasure in.

Suddenly a wooden box appeared on the bed beside him. It was inlaid with ivory and fine wood. He picked up the box and stared at it in disbelief. He opened it and inside was a special place where the stone fit exactly. As he began to place the stone in the box, suddenly a small bird crashed into the window of his room.

He went to the window and looked at the small bird lying on the ground writhing in pain. He did not realize yet that the bird had been hurt as payment for his wish.

And on and on….

A negative consequence for a positive gain. Do you ever wonder why you feel anxious when a very large deal is pending, something that you have been wanting really bad? Could it be that as a child you were programmed to believe that if something very good was to happen, that something very bad would follow?

Could this be the reason that as we begin to reach the successes that we have always dreamed of that we sabotage ourselves and prevent them from happening? We begin to suffer from the “what if’s” and the “unknowns”. We begin to worry that if we actually achieve the success that we seek, that something bad is going to happen.

When you begin to experience success in any form, it is important to be prepared to experience the fear of failure, or the fear of something bad happening. When you are getting close to success you should try to notice the voices from your past that tell you something bad is coming and ignore them. You might even say out loud that it is not true, that nothing bad will happen if you succeed.

Reviewing positive attitude materials can help you in this process. In the same way that therapy helps us to overcome personal issues, positive attitude materials can help us to overcome our career issues. Listen to or read something motivational on a regular basis. Attend a seminar at least twice a year dedicated to overcoming limiting beliefs. It is important to exercise your abilities to fight against fear, just as important as it is to exercise the rest of your body.

By learning to overcome your fears you empower yourself to succeed and each success leads you to another and makes you more able to overcome more fears. Practice this regularly and you will find yourself achieving things that you never before thought possible.