Online Fax Service - What Factors Makes For a Great Fax Service?

Internet or online fax services is one form of "cloud computing" which has really caught fire with companies - big and small. Mainly because by using an online fax service provider a company can save on space, hardware, inks, toners, papers... and this new modern way of faxing is much cheaper, especially when you consider there are no start-up costs and you don't have the monthly bill of an extra fax phone line.

When you throw in the fact that online faxing is completely mobile and makes any portable device like a cell phone, PDA, netbook or laptop a virtual fax machine. You can send and receive your faxes from anywhere as long as you have Internet access. This also makes your business available 24/7, 365 days of the year and if your company depends upon faxing to bring in sales or to contact clients; one can easily see why using an online fax service simply makes good business sense.

However, a word of caution, since this is usually a long-term business service or arrangement you have to be extremely careful when choosing a fax service. The prosperity of your business could be at stake if your company depends heavily upon faxing.

So what factors should you look for in a good fax service?

First, reliability is numero uno - you must have a reliable fax service that's completely functional around the clock. It must deliver all your faxes to you and it must send all your faxes to your clients. Needless to say, missed faxes means you lose business, therefore, reliability of any fax service should be first on your mind when choosing any provider. So thoroughly check out any service, read reviews, ask your colleagues or users of a particular service, visit forums to see what other users are saying, and use the vast resources of the web to help you in your quest. Do a little homework now and you won't be disappointed in the quality of the service you choose.

Second, you must check out all the costs associated with the fax service you pick, make sure there are no hidden fees that will cost you an arm and a leg over the long-haul. Most service are on average around $10 a month and you get 300 free faxes (incoming/outgoing) with your account. You will have to pay for extra faxes, rates go from 3 cents to 10 cents but there are cheaper rates and plans out there so it pays to shop around. Most but not all fax services have no set-up fees and most also let you have a free 30 Day Trial so that you can check out their service before you buy.

Third, most of the higher quality services will have many ways or methods which you can use to send/receive your faxes. Ease of use is one of the major factors online faxing has become so popular. You can send them directly thru your email system, your faxes are sent as an email attachment - usually as a Tiff or PDF. Almost all have an online account or interface where you can logon and read your faxes, you can also send your faxes from this online account. Most services also let you store your faxes here for a certain length of time. Many services also have a desktop application you can use to send your faxes.

Fourth, you must check to see what type of support a service provides. Most quality services have 24 hour support which you can contact if you should have any problems. Some services have regular 9 to 5 business hours support which could be a problem if you have urgent faxes to send and you come into trouble and have to wait to contact support.

Fifth, you must also check to see if your fax service is completely scalable for business. Most of the top brand name quality services are scalable for businesses, if you want to scale up or scale down, then you can instantly do this since there is no hardware (fax lines or fax machines) to install since everything is done through your computers and the Internet. Most services also have fax broadcasting, in case you have to send a fax to a large number of people at once, you can do this with one click.

To sum up, when choosing an online fax service, you will have to try to find an affordable, high quality reliable service that is available 24/7 and is completely scalable for your company or business. What more could you ask for?

For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online Comparison Guide to get your own: online fax service. Or if you want more detailed information on Internet Faxing try here: internet fax services. Titus Hoskins Copyright 2010. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

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Business Plan Deal Breaker Factors

Executive Summary

It all comes down to a few words. Get it right! How much money do you need and how you will protect the interest of your investors?

Why you need to know your business competitors...and make yourself stand apart from them.

What will your market penetration be?

What is the exit strategy for your business?

The ownership and form of your business: What investors will want to know.

Know your customers: Why you need to know who your customers are for the sake of your business.

How will your business protect the interest of your investors?

How will investors make money with your business?

How much money does your company need? Why you need an exact figure before you approach investors.

How easily can you be copied?

Does your business plan explain how your customers will get to know about your products and services?

Strategic

What are the factors that may hold your business back or make it thrive. How to show investors that your strategy is sound.

Identifying the key milestones for your business.

How will you measure the success of your business?

Your business lifeline: What are the 10% to 20% of activities that could account for 80% to 90% of your business success?

What key relationships do you need to sustain to help your business to survive and thrive?

Outlining the long-term and short-term goals of your business.

Identifying and targeting the factors that may hold your business back and prevent you from achieving your business goals.

How can you leverage key activities for your business to produce greater results?

How are you qualified to run your business?

Explaining the organizational strengths of your company.

Discussing the factors meaningful to your customers - How to show investors that you know your customers.

Business values to guide your company.

Assessing your resources - why you need to know the current status of your company's resources.

Business Model

What business you are in? How you will make money? What threats and opportunities exist to your survival?

Why you need to establish your track record to impress investors.

Why do you need the money, anyway? - Explaining how investor funding will be used to achieve your company's goals.

What business you are in? Why you need to know and how you can find out!

Preparing your business the right way: Picking the right business structure for the right reasons.

Making your business venture appealing to investors.

Establishing your long-term objective for setting up and expanding your business.

Products and Services

Why will your customers buy from you? How will you show investors that you stand out among your competitors?

Your Customers: Explaining why your customers will buy from you.

What is it about your products and services? What your business plan needs to explain about the products and services you offer.

Pricing Policies: What investors will want to know about how you're pricing your products and services.

Keeping your customers.

How are you different? Showing your Investors that you stand out among competitors.

Industry Analysis

What are the barriers to entry into your business?

The Face of the Competition: Knowing your competitors, direct and indirect.

Protecting Your Business: What you need to consider about trademarking, copyrighting, and patenting.

Knowing your market and which factors are important to customers, clients, and partners.

How large is the industry that your business competes, or plans to compete in?

Finding your unique selling point.

Explaining the factors that affect your target industry.

Explaining government regulations that affect your industry - points your business plan should cover.

Business Planning: Barriers to Entry.

Assessing your business competition: How many companies are expected to enter your industry in the future?

Assessing the long-term security of your business - How long will it take an existing competitor or new entrant to overcome your business model's advantages for stakeholders?

Market Analysis

Knowing your target markets and identifying them for investors.

Your market development timeframe and why it is important.

What investors want to know about your market: Is your market growing?

What are the sales trends in your market for the last 5 yrs?

What are the growth prospects of your market and what are the future sales trends in your market for the next 5 yrs?

Validating your business plan: what investors want to know about the research you have done to develop your business idea.

Specifying your markets: explaining to investors where you are going to be doing business.

Searching for untapped markets: Why you should do business with the customers everyone else ignores.

Purchase Values: What are your estimates?

Planning Your Business: How to assess the annualized market size in 2-4 years.

Knowing your target markets (and identifying them for investors).

Identifying key prospective purchasers.

How much of your target market do you intend to capture with your business?

Distribution, Promotional Methods, and Marketing Expenditure levels.

Describing historical shifts in your industry: key points for investors.

Assessing the seasonal aspect of your market.

Assessing the resilience of your business: Is the industry cyclical with the economy?

Assessing regulatory and structural restrictions on trade.

Competitive Analysis

Knowing whether your market is fragmented and why it matters to investors.

Who are the top three competitors for your business?

What are your competitors' marketing strategies?

What are your competitors' channels of distribution and why do they matter?

Knowing whether your market is fragmented and why it matters to investors.

Improving upon your competitors' product offerings.

How do your competitors promote their business and why investors want to know.

How are your competitors competing? Recognizing the most important factors for your business.

Establishing your 'market share goals': how much of the market do you intend to capture and how fast?

Developing your pricing strategy: how to make sure the pricing of your goods or services is competitive.

Assessing the size and strength of your competitors.

Sales and Marketing Plan

Launching your business into your target market: how to prepare an initial market entry and development strategy.

Forecasting your marketing and sales expenses.

Developing a contingency plan for sales.

Creating a pricing model.

Building your sales team.

Building your marketing team.

Budgeting your sales and marketing.

Breaking down your marketing and sales budget.

Applying the 80-20 rule for profitability.

Management and Talent

Identifying your weaknesses and convincing investors you can compensate for them. Highlighting your talent acquisition strategy.

What is it you do? Why and how you should explain your role in your business.

Outlining the strengths and weaknesses of your management team.

Identifying your weaknesses and convincing investors you can compensate for them.

Creating your management team.

Building your business: how many employees do you need?

Risk Management Contingencies

Planning for the worst-case scenario: How will you mitigate any setbacks, delays, or unforeseen delays to your execution strategy?

What is your "plan B" if you cannot execute your business plan?

What are the inherent and perceived risks to your business?

What are the final projections for the first year of your business?

Planning for the worst-case scenario: How will you mitigate any setbacks, delays, or unforeseen delays to your execution strategy?

Exit Strategy

Planning for the best and worst case scenario: what are the possible outcomes for your business?

Show me the money: assessing how much of a return your investors can expect.

Planning for the best and worst case scenario: what are the possible outcomes for your business?

How organized are you with your financial data?

Business Plan Fairy is the leading "Custom Business Plan" provider in North America. We represent small business owners and management teams serious about raising capital.

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Factors Which Affect the Overall Value of a Business

Businesses are something which have a tendency to change hands now and again over the entire life of the business. Whether it is a merger or an outright sale, there are certain factors which will affect the overall value of a business that is put up for sale by its current owner. The following paragraphs will highlight some of these factors and explain why the overall value of business can be altered from time to time.

Delaying the Sale

Selling one's business is an extremely important decision for a business owner to make. The sale thereof is something which can either make or break the financial stability of an individual at times. A factor which tends to affect the overall value of a business is a delay with regard to deciding whether or not to sell the business. As there are times when the market would be most profitable for a business sales transaction, this time period can pass should an individual business owner wait too long to determine whether to sell or not.

Not only outside factors, such as the general market, will affect the sale of a business. Internal factors such as a decrease in sales, creditors and unrest amongst employees within the company may all affect the time period in which a business goes up for sale. With that said, it is important that individuals sell when the time is right for selling. Unreasonable delay in a sale of a business may have adverse effects on the overall value of the business.

Private Business Owners Lack the Resources

Another factor which affects the overall value of a business with regard to the sale thereof has a lot to do with the lack of resources that many business owners experience. Unlike their corporate counterparts, smaller business owners do not have attorneys, accountants and financial advisors at their beck and call who can aid them in the sale of their business. Due to the lack of these professionals, business owners tend to take longer selling their business and finding the best buyers which will affect the overall value of the business.

Lack of Appropriate Business Sale Knowledge

Much of the information which an individual can gain from outside media sources such as television, magazines and websites deals with selling larger companies. For those individuals who are looking to sell a smaller, privately owned business, they may find difficulty gaining valuable insight into how to sell their business so that it brings in the most profitable price. Not having the requisite business knowledge can hinder the overall value of one's business, as they do not know how to sell the business in a way which brings in the best price.

Future Profitability

A buyer in a business purchase transaction wants to know that the business which they are purchasing is one that will see future profits. It is not only important for the business to be seen as doing well at that particular moment in time, but it is also vital that the business will continue to do well in the future. Therefore, future profitability is something which will drive up the value of a business. After all, who really wants to purchase a business that will go downhill soon thereafter. The answer to that question is probably no one. If a current business owner can show factors which relate to future profitability of the business, then their business may be one that is portrayed as having good value.

Position the Company for Sale

A business that is going to achieve the best price and be seen as having the best overall value is one which is properly positioned for sale. There are many aspects which can adequately position a business for sale such as showing unique qualities that the company maintains, the value of its employees and the profitability of the company as a whole. The company must be prepared in a nice, attractive package in order to have the best positive value. A company which is under great management, sees good profits on the market and is a good purchase opportunity overall will yield the best selling price. Positioning the company for sale is best left up to professionals who are in the market of handling situations such as these.

Summary

To conclude, the previously mentioned items are certain factors which can affect the overall value of a business that is being sold. In order to ensure that a current business owner receives the best value for their company it is important to take certain steps to avoid sale delays, obtain the necessary resources to help the sales process along and retain the help of knowledgeable professionals in areas where they are needed. By taking the aforementioned steps, the current owner of the business will be better able to get the best possible selling price for their business.

Aaron Muller is a partner of KRBrokers. Visit our website for Seattle business opportunities. Established in 1984 and located in Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond. KR Business Brokers has helped thousands of business buyers and sellers achieve and realize their financial independence and business ownership dreams.

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MLM Business - The 7 Business Factors Test of a Multi -level Marketing Business

So many people ask the same question: Is Multi-level Marketing a REAL Business? Is it truly a business that can produce a living and income? Is it a REAL distribution business? It is a business that operates for the customer's satisfaction, and always looks to gain new customers?

Here is the answer: YES.

How and why does it qualify as a business? Every business has certain traits and functions that are needed to do business and stay in business. We have developed what we call the "7 Business Factors Test", and you have to ask these questions to see if it qualifies as a business. All businesses, no matter whether it is a traditional business or a non-traditional business, (such as MLM), answer these questions in the affirmative.

What are the "7 Business Factors Test" Questions?

1) Does the MLM Business distribute goods and services of some type?

Answer: Yes.

In MLM, there are goods and services that are distributed through personal distribution methods, and they are distributed directly to the customer, with no middle man. These goods and services can be manufactured by the MLM company, but usually are not. The goods and services many times are manufactured by an outside source, and then shipped by the MLM Business to the customer or distributor. Then the distributor can take the goods, and re-sell them to their customers as well.

2) Does the MLM Business have an official Office, headquarters, or structure that the business is operated out of, and with an address of some type?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM businesses should have some kind of office or headquarters that the goods are shipped from, or at least in charge of the shipments getting to the customer. This does not have to be a fancy office, but one that can get all the tasks needed to run the business done in a timely fashion. They should have a visible address on all communication.

The distributor's business is usually operated out of the home, and that counts as a structure that the home business is housed.

3) Is there an accounting structure that is set up to run the business effectively and legally?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM businesses should have an accounting function and people set up to handle all business transactions. They not only keep the books for the MLM Business itself, but also the MLM distributor as well. The MLM Business from the home should have some form of an accounting system, for tax purposes, and for profit and loss statements. Accounting also helps keep the Company and distributor aware of the health of the business and how it is doing, or not doing.

4) Does the MLM Business have easy communication to get a hold of someone if needed?

Answer: Yes.

Communication is the lifeblood of any business, and MLM is no exception. MLM Businesses usually not only have an order line, and a distributor line, but a general public telephone number that the public can get in touch with them as well. Usually at the MLM Business Office, there is someone to answer the phone as well.

And the MLM business should also have an email system that is watched, and taken care of, on a daily basis. This is not only for the distributor base, but also the customers and public as well.

5) Does the MLM Business have the needed business licenses and legal structure to do business in the states and countries they operate in?

Answer: Yes.

All MLM Businesses that have been in business for any amount of time, must have the needed legal structure and licenses to operate in every state. If they do not, they will eventually be forced to cease doing business in that state. And most MLM Businesses have some form of a corporate structure that the company operates under. That could include being a C Corporation, an LLC, or a Sub S Corporation.

Even MLM distributor needs a business license to do business in their city, so they will not be penalized if they do not have one and are caught.

6) Does the MLM business operate on a FOR PROFIT basis?

Every successful business structure, traditional or non-traditional, should operate on a FOR PROFIT basis. Even the MLM distributor needs to operate on a FOR PROFIT basis. If the MLM business does not operate in a profit mode, and loses money continually, the MLM business will not be in business for that long.

It is the same way for the MLM distributor. If the distributor does not make any money, then they will not stay in business long.

7) Does the MLM business perform all of the needed business functions to increase business, including marketing, promotion, campaigns, running specials, advertising tools, customer service, brand extensions, research and development, direct marketing, increasing brand awareness, and keeping their vendors at an honest price?

Answer: Yes.

Every MLM business operates to increase business, using all of the functions mentioned, and more. Even the MLM distributor needs to perform some of those functions, to increase their own business in their marketplace. These are functions any business needs to do, in order to stay in business, and enlarge it's operating capacity.

Yes, an MLM Business is a TRUE business that operates to service the customer's needs, bring products and services to the marketplace, and show a profit at the end of the year.

MLM or Multi-level Marketing, has passed the "7 Business Factors Test." If an MLM Business you are considering does not answer all of the above questions YES, then you may want to consider seeking another MLM company that can pass this test as a Multi-level Marketing business.

blessings...doug (c) 2005/ all rights reserved

PassionFire Intl http://www.passionfire.com

Doug Firebaugh is one of the top Network Marketing Trainers in the world. Over a million people a month read his training ezine. He spent the last 7 years traveling the world speaking and training as an MLM Trainer on Success. He lives in Birmingham Michigan, and you can receive aFREE subscription to his training ezine- The MLM Success HEAT- at:

http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_4.html
http://www.passionfire.com

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