Daily Biz Solutions

For your business to thrive in the global marketplace, you need to be ready to provide quotes, and even deliverables, in an y language at a moment’s notice. It’s likely that you don’t have a staff of professional translators on your team, but it’s a fact that from time to time you may need to prepare documents for overseas clients, or be able to decipher instructions that they send to you. The best way to make sure that you don’t miss out on an opportunity to grow your international business is to make sure that you have access to a reliable professional translation service.

When you need the assistance of a translation service, New Delhi-based IAFL Translation and Interpretation Services  is an excellent resource, no matter where your company is located. The organization can assist with a wide variety of documentation translation needs, specializing in the major languages of India as well as English, Farsi, and Arabic.

IAFL’s team works with clients of all sizes all over the world, and can easily provide the translation deliverables you need, via email, file transfer protocol (FTP), or via the alternative means of your choice. Whether you’re a small business owner with the need for occasional translation assistance, or you work with a major corporation that needs frequent assistance, you’ll be pleased with the high quality, fast and affordable service IAFL can provide. 

 by Andre J. Peschong

I wanted to touch on the subject of Angel investing. It’s a side of the investment industry that I think is a mystery to many companies and entrepreneurs but can be highly influential. Why? Because with Angel investors you get a different mentality than institutional investors. With this type of investor the importance of integrity of the leaders, creating a sense of community (of belonging to “club” of your peers) and the true desire to not just make money but the enjoyment of growing a business are forefront in the investment decision. This can only benefit a growing company. Additionally, since 2000, the number of VC’s has declined by 50% while the number of angel groups has more than doubled (stats from Ernst and Young Dec. 2006 Report).
In order to gain some insight into this type of investing, I interviewed Doug Pennington of Private Capital Network in Huntington Beach, CA.
AJP: What is Private Capital Network?
DP:  An association of SEC Accredited Investors who are interested in investing in seed and early stage companies.
AJP: Why did you start Private Capital Network?
DP: Private Capital Network (PCN) was started initially to fund early stage companies from all industries, not just one. 
AJP: What makes your Angel group different then all the others out there?
DP:  We look at opportunities from all sectors of the economy.  Additionally, we have become familiar in working with foreign governments and their stock exchanges. Investment opportunities are blind to national boundaries.
AJP: Do you invest as a group or individually?
DP: Members can invest as a group among themselves or as individuals.  PCN Management does not participate in either nor do we become involved in Term Sheets or any negotiations.
AJP: What is your typical meeting like?
DP: Meetings consist of presentations from selected companies (3 normally), and sometimes a guest speaker.  After the presentations and a Q&A period, we ask the presenters to leave the room.  After which, we discuss openly the positive and negative aspects of each opportunity.  To the benefit of the companies, PCN provides them with written copies of this feedback to help them improve and/or fine tune their presentation.  They are also provided a contact list of those members who are interested moving forward with the company.  If members truly like the deal, we will form a due diligence committee (3-5 members) to dig further into their data and the company.
AJP: What is your due diligence process?
DP: The process begins with the formation of the DD committee.   DD documents are given to the company to complete and return. The head of the committee will guide the company personnel through the processes offering advice and guidance where appropriate.   The entire process takes between 4-6 weeks.  The resulting documents are made available to the membership.
          
AJP: Any industry focus?
DP: Money does not care what industry it is made in.  Some members have a special focus others do not.  We all share our ideas and opinions about a deal then act as our intellect directs us.
AJP: How involved is your group with operations of investment companies?
DP: I have viewed three levels of involvement by our members.  Some are simply investors who bring cash and their connections to a company.  Others, who came from the upper levels of large corporations, offer their expertise.  While some, are serial entrepreneurs who want to become deeply involved in the management and growth of the companies they invest in.  All play their role in helping these companies to grow and succeed.
AJP: Do you plan to grow geographically?
DP: At present, we are focused only on the Southern California region.  Perhaps, if the right individual presented his or herself, we will expand to other regions of the country.
AJP: How active have you been in the last 12 months?
DP: In 2007, we viewed 25 company presentations in 9 months.  Of those, 3 have been funded to a total of $9.6 million.  Two more are still pending so we can not comment on them yet.

You’ve heard the saying “its not the size of the Dog in the fight…”. Well, believe it or not, your business venture is a Heavy-Weight Bout. Just today, I received a Certified Letter from the company that hosts the software for my Title Insurance company. The letter explained that: due to the current mortgage crisis, they were going out of business and I need to find new software. I also got an email from a business site where I advertise, stating that: one of my top “pay per click” keywords was not relevant to my ad and they were rejecting it. These may seem like minor annoyances, and they are. But add that to the million and one issues that I have to troubleshoot today, and for a second I contemplated rescheduling all my appointments and setting the phone to Do Not Disturb.

As a rule, I try not to let my mercury rise too much. Deep down, I just want everybody to get along and things to go smoothly. In business however, I’ve learned the hard way that there is always someone that wants to take my spot. There is always someone hungrier, meaner, with more drive, with more training, with less to lose. In business, I’ve had to learn to fight. Not that I have ever backed down from a fight, but in business, I’ve learned that issues come at me from unexpected sources at a moments notice and I refuse to be caught with my guard down… again.

In business, I’ve learned to come out swinging when I am being attacked. I’ve learned to fight back former business partners who have wronged me and then badmouthed me all over town. I’ve learned to fight back unreasonable clients who want everything for next to nothing. I’ve learned to fight back employees with horrendous attitudes and entitlement issues. I’ve learned to fight back investors with unreasonable expectations and foul mouth. And the biggest monster I’ve had to fight back is the one inside of me who is dying to stop holding the world by a string and go surfing. It seems like every situation has to be managed, every potential monster needs its hand held.
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You definitely want to work hard to make your bed & breakfast very appealing to guests. Chances are they are going to drive by it or they are going to look at pictures of it online. There is a certain charm and quality that people will be expecting you to offer them should they decide to stay at your business. The more appealing you can make it, the more people you will attract.

Of course the appearance of it won’t be enough to keep them coming back. You will need to balance both aspects to have a terrific business that will continually draw a crowd. It is the entire package that makes a bed & breakfast such a treasured find for most people. They come across many that have some of the things they want, but very few that can offer all of it every single time.

This type of business is often tied to a perception that they are very romantic places. Not everyone that stays there is a couple though. Yet if you want to offer a romantic type of bed & breakfast, think of a location where they can really enjoy it. If they can have a room that faces the sun, they can watch it come up. They may be able to see the beach or something just as pretty as part of their view.

Many people looking into this type of business want to do it from a regular home. They want to transform it into the business they have always dreamed of owning. Right now is a great time to find homes offered. With foreclosures being at a record high and interest rates low, you can get some excellent deals.
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Whether you are a busy professional or a small business owner, it’s important to make sure that your personal and business ventures are properly insured. By making certain that all of your insurance needs are taken care of with affordable and high quality insurance policies, you can focus your energy on being productive in your career instead of constantly worrying about you will recover in the event of a car accident, house fire, burglary, illness, or other problematic circumstance.

Finding the best coverage for your particular situation doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming. For home, life, and auto insurance quotes, you can easily find the best available policy offers by doing your research online. Online insurance research services such as EZ Insurance Portal make it easy to get rate quotes from several different companies in no time at all.

You don’t have to invest hours of effort to get quotes from several different insurance companies. Instead of having to spend your valuable time completing a number of forms or making endless phone calls, using EZ Insurance Portal is an excellent way to get the price quotes and coverage details that you need. You can easily get the information you need to make a sound decision about the best way to protect your life, home, valuables, health, and vehicles.