Bloggy Business Today

Fountain Valley, CA (PRWEB) – Liz Claiborne Inc. recently sold its namesake brand (Liz Claiborne) to J.C. Penney for approximately $288 million. Liz Claiborne Inc. hopes to concentrate its efforts on its high-scale brands such as Lucky Brand, Couture and Kate Spade. This is just another example of a company taking necessary action during these tough economic times. While most small companies may not be worth millions, or the size of a “Liz Claiborne,” there are still some takeaways here for the small business owner who may be struggling. In the recent blog post “Liz Claiborne Selling Namesake Brand: Even Big Guys Struggle in an Economic Downturn!,” the Business Finance Store offers some tips for small businesses facing tough times given the economic climate.
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He is presently one of the respected businessmen in the field of furniture designing. He left a prestigious career in the United States as a teacher in an Academy of Art and as an industrial designer in order to take full responsibility of family furniture business.

Taking over the family business from his father who was an excellent salesman was not that easy because what he has mastered was in designing. He realized that in order to enable him to expand the business, he needed qualified people to work for him. First, since his specialty is in designing only, he is not well versed in sales and marketing. Hence he needs people to do the job. Second, he needs people to work on how the furniture business can adjust to the changing economic times where cost of labor and materials are high. Thus, the business was restructured with new marketing team and a services-based design principal as collaboration between the designer and the client.

The business was a continuous success because he sees to it that by utilizing all modern communications facilities, clients are regularly sent mailers or e-mails to give updates about upcoming new products. He makes sure that the products are promoted through magazines, newspapers or through advertisements. Likewise, to be featured in publications is a big plus factor for the target market to be informed. Lastly, by having a showroom that is accessible to prospective clients where they can view, touch and evaluate the products and give them favorable impressions of its quality.

Career change can be rewarding to a person who is willing to accept challenges towards a new direction in life.

At some point, people will always have this idea in their mind. Starting a business is never easy and unless you are gifted with the golden touch of managing for success, chances are the road to success will be bumpy.

Today may not seem to be the best time to start a business but there are people who are still considering it, especially the ones left with little options as far as income is concerned.

According to a new survey by FindLaw.com, the most popular legal information Web site, 61 percent of Americans have either started or thought about starting a small business.

• Thirty percent of Americans say they have started at least one small business.
• An additional 31 percent of Americans have thought about starting their own business at some point in their lives.
• Only 39 percent of Americans say they have never started, or even considered starting, their own business.

Small businesses are an important part of the economy, generating a significant portion of new jobs. Small businesses (defined as 500 or fewer employees) employ about half of all U.S. workers and have generated more than half of net new jobs annually over the last decade, according to the Small Business Administration. There are an estimated 20 million businesses in the U.S. that consist of only the owner with no additional employees.

“Owning your own business is a dream that many people have and that many people act upon,” said Stephanie Rahlfs, an attorney and editor at FindLaw.com. “Even in difficult economic times, people often take advantage of opportunities to start a business where they see unmet needs, a chance to turn a personal passion or interest into a business, or because they want to have more control and responsibility over their work life.

“Starting a business involves many legal and regulatory requirements, including state and local licensing and registration, taxation, zoning, intellectual property and financing,” cautions Rahlfs. “Knowing what the requirements are, what information you’ll need, and where to find good advice and help are essential. Research has found that businesses that make it through the first four years have a much better chance of lasting long-term.”

Free Internet resources, such as the FindLaw Small Business Center, can provide helpful information on starting and managing a small business. The FindLaw Small Business Center covers first steps for starting a business, incorporation and business structures, business laws and regulations, finance, taxes, business forms and contracts, and a directory for finding attorneys who specialize in small business.

The FindLaw survey was conducted using a demographically balanced telephone survey of 1,000 American adults and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus three percent.

IVA or Individual Voluntary Arrangement is a recourse anyone today would surely avail but the problem is that it is only limited to the United Kingdom. A great alternative to people drowning in debt, IVA helps people keep their homes despite imminent bankruptcy. Today, we hear a lot of that around and surely, anyone would be open to gaining various alternatives to get them through these tough economic times.

Some guidelines on what IVA stands for. People who want to avail it need to satisfy the following factors:

1. They should be currently employed
2. Debt over £15,000 owed to three creditors

Once a person enters the IVA, they will be signing a form of promissory note to which they agree to settle their debt for a specified period of time. The standard payment period is 5 years. With that legally binding agreement, at least they can look forward to having an opportunity to wipe out their debt.

But as stated earlier, this setup is only available for UK residents. In other countries, we hear and read about how hard it is to cope with the current economic turmoil. People are trying desperately to save themselves from drowning in debt, trying to cut on costs and hanging on dearly to their jobs with the hope that they would not be laid off.

Many have lost their homes for failure to settle their amortization and others losing them due to some agreement to which they use property as collateral. In all, you can see that the financial issues are growing by the day and it seems that all people can do right now is watch their every move, particularly a shift in their lifestyle.

Bankruptcy should not always be the immediate solution. Some people have this false notion that filing for bankruptcy gets them off the hook. Aside from a tarnished reputation, you stand to lose a lot on credibility and eventually some personal assets that may include your home. Some make arrangements but the real buck here is trying to manage your finances and try to sustain yourself for the duration of these hard times.

If only there was an IVA or something similar in other countries, then perhaps people can heave a sigh of relief. Though not really a great answer to the financial woes, all consumers can do today is to either wish for the economic storm to end or find some form of help that can make life a bit manageable with the given situation that the whole world is suffering at the moment.

Unless the economy improves and their strategies changed, we may see MLM companies following the debacle that most banks, financial institutions and other business are doing; closing shop. It is obvious that today, people are hesitant to spend or shell out cash and for traditional MLM practices, people cannot afford to spend money on high priced distributor kits just for the opportunity to make money. They have better things to spend their money on like food or rent. It is to risky.

Secondly the lag time between the time you get paid with most MLM compensation pay plans is to long. People need money up front and they need it now. They will not stick around long enough to grow their businesses overtime if it isn’t going payout well enough.

It is true that many MLM companies require distributors to purchase what they call distributor kits in order to earn higher commissions. These distributor kits range in prices but are usually priced around $100 to $500. The idea is to then resell the products at retail. This could prove to be difficult to accomplish in a bad economy. People are more cautious than ever on what they’re spending money on and it may prove difficult convincing people to buy products they’ve never heard of no matter what the benefits may be.

The time frame from when you are paid with most traditional MLM compensation pay plans is 30 days after your first month in business. This can prove very stressful on people’s finances as most MLM companies require it’s distributors to purchase product on auto-ship. New distributors would be billed two additional times for products before they’ve received their first commission check and if they were not able to resell the products at retail themselves, they would be out significantly. Fast start bonuses may not be enough to keep people in business. You can expect a high rate or attrition during these tuff economic times.

With that said, a new plan of action must be done. Otherwise, MLM will just be another thing of the past as with companies which have folded already.

(Source) Web Wire