What's the Best Way to Find Startup Money?

Seek an advisor first, before you seek an investor. Find someone local with related experience -- maybe an attorney or a counselor at the nearest Small Business Development Center.

Check references and ask for recommendations so you get somebody you can trust. Only someone with experience and with his or her feet on the ground, the same ground you're walking on, can help you decide whether the payoff of your patent with 3 percent royalty is your best option or not.

Talk to several people, and ask them real questions. Get a sense for their experience, preferably related to sporting goods. Don't be shy about checking references.

Banks could tap ECB on dollar funding woes

It’s looking increasingly likely more European banks will be forced to tap the European Central Bank’s US dollar facility, as stress in the cross currency basis swap market has once again become acute this week.

“We are more or less at levels where banks are indifferent about going to the ECB or the FX market for dollar funding. Over the last few days spreads have widened dramatically in the FX market, making dollar funding more expensive. As a result, banks may well want to start tapping the ECB dollar facility more,” said Pavan Wadhwa, global head of rates strategy at JP Morgan.

How to do Thanksgiving dinner for $70

Eatocracy's Kat Kinsman shows where to find cheap and delicious ingredients for this year's holiday meal.

Why Gasoline Prices Refuse to Slide

Factors Influencing Prices at Retail Outlets

The price per gallon of gas at the pump is determined by various complicated factors and a whole range of issues which includes - the demand and supply of crude oil along with factors like inflation, local taxes and changes in currency valuations. A typical breakup of the per gallon gas price would be as follows:

Price of crude oil - 68%
Federal and state taxes - 14%
Refining costs - 10%
Distribution and marketing costs - 5%
Profit margins - 3%

Oil price again flirting with $100 per barrel

Oil prices climbed to near $100 per barrel Tuesday on encouraging news about the U.S. economy.
Benchmark crude rose $1.23 to end the day at $99.37 per barrel in New York. The benchmark price hasn't been that high since July 26. Brent crude, which is used to price many foreign oil varieties, climbed 50 cents to finish at $112.39 per barrel in London.

Prices jumped after the Commerce Department said that retail sales rose in October for the fifth straight month. Consumer spending increased for electronics, appliances, hardware and building supplies. Sales also rose at grocery stores, bars and restaurants and health care stores.

Over US$2bn in port sector investments planned up to 2015

Peru's port sector will receive over US$2.04bn in investments up to 2015, which will help close the sector's investment gap, according to estimates from Lima's chamber of commerce (CCL).

The chamber said the country's US$4bn port infrastructure deficit is impacting its global competitiveness, state news agency Andina reported.

Markets Fall As Investor Fears Resurface

European stocks closed down on Monday as leadership changes in Italy and Greece failed to have a lasting impact on investor sentiment. The FTSE 100 reversed its 0.5% gain and instead closed down 0.5% at 5,519 points, In France the CAC40 lost 1.2%, while the German DAX fell 1%.

Although markets had welcomed the appointment of former European Commissioner Mario Monti to replace Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, the rises were short lived.

How to invest money in the stock market?

Investing in the stock market is to invest in any of the various financial assets or securities that are traded on the stock exchange, such as stocks, bonds, debentures, bills, notes, etc.., The most representative actions.

Proceeds from investing in the stock occur when financial assets are sold at a price greater than the price they had the time of purchase, when earn interest on the purchase of a financial asset or, in the case of shares, when issuing companies distribute dividends among its shareholders.

How to invest my money in business?

Investing in business is to create a business from scratch, buy a business already in operation (acquire a transfer), or purchase a franchise.

Whichever option you choose, invest in business has the advantage of being able to get a lot of money, you can learn many things, gives us the satisfaction of managing our own business, being responsible for the success you may have to do get it to grow and succeed, you can use our full potential, and so on.

How To Make Money Blogging

If you want to make serious money from blogging, you must have complete control over your blog – and that’s something the free blogging accounts won’t give you. You’ll be bound by their terms and conditions and that usually includes not being able to actively promote anything. There are plenty of people who have established a blog only to have it removed without notice some weeks or months later.

There are several ways to set up a blog online. You could use WordPress, Blogger, or another free site that hosts your blog for you; or alternatively you can set up your own blog under your own domain name.

How To Make Money On EBay

But where do you get your stock from? How do you get started? And how can you build a business that gives you PowerSeller status? Relax – you’re about to find out.


It’s easy work to get started earning money on eBay. Once you’ve signed up for your free account the best way to get a feel for what selling is like is to auction off some of your personal items that you no longer want. If you are going to start buying stock to resell, you’ll do better by getting some basic selling experience first.

The Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now

The energy industry is full of start-up opportunities, so it's no surprise that it was the fastest-growing category among privately-held companies on the 2008 Inc. 500 | 5000 list -- with a median four-year growth rate of 287.5 percent among 79 companies on the list. These companies run the gamut from dealing in solar energy to alternative fuels.

Top 10 business ideas & opportunities for 2011

We’ve selected 10 business and marketing ideas that we believe will provide entrepreneurs with plenty of opportunities in 2011. We hope that you’ll find these concepts as inspiring as we do, and that you’ll be able to apply them to your own company, brand or work in the coming year!

1. Pop-up ‘MedCottage’ enables senior care at home
2. Vegetarian butcher serves up lupin-based meat substitutes
3. On a bet, party people fill KLM flight to Miami using Twitter
4. Indian courier service hires only deaf workers
5. Luxury women’s panties by curated subscription
6. Buy-one-give-one indie eyewear sells for $99 per pair
7. Fiat offers electric bikes as loaner vehicles
8. Tapping professional skills of micro-volunteers via iPhone & web
9. Cleaning product sold in cartridges, diluted at home from the tap
10. A fresh take on online memorials

World Bank approves $370m for Urban Water, Transport Sectors

The World Bank has approved about $ 370 million to support Urban Water and Transport Sectors in seven regions in the country.

The regions include Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Northern, Volta, Upper West and Western Region.

The bank approved $103 million for the Urban Water Sector out of which $60 million has already been disbursed.

2012 candidates slip on Econ 101

Every 2012 contender attended college. They all graduated. They went to schools like the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Texas A&M, Morehouse, Penn State and Emory.

But decades have passed since these Presidential candidates first stepped onto campus as freshmen. Is it time for an Econ 101 refresher course?

Europe drags on HSBC's global banking and markets business

A billion-dollar revenue swing in HSBC’s credit and rates businesses dragged pre-tax profits at its global banking and markets unit down by nearly half, as challenging trading conditions and eurozone uncertainty took their toll in the third quarter.

How to Stop Losing Money From Coupons

No buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) deals with other promotions. The cartfuls of free merchandise extreme coupon users score are often the result of BOGO promotions combined with BOGO coupons. By disallowing such combined promotions, you eliminate that risk, Phibbs says.

Cut the copycats. Limiting the number of identical coupons--perhaps two or four--per purchase or per customer can eliminate buyers walking off with all your inventory for free or at a deeply discounted price. If your point-of-sale system can track it, you may also consider limiting the number of identical coupons customers can use over a specific time period, such as no more than four in a month. However, Phibbs admits, that can be trickier to track.

Simple business plan outline

I don’t recommend developing the plan in the same order you present it as a finished document. For example, although the Executive Summary obviously comes as the first section of a business plan, I recommend writing it after everything else is done. It will appear first, but you write it last.

• Executive Summary: Write this last. It’s just a page or two of highlights.
• Company Description: Legal establishment, history, start-up plans, etc.
• Product or Service: Describe what you’re selling. Focus on customer benefits.
• Market Analysis: You need to know your market, customer needs, where they are, how to reach them, etc.
• Strategy and Implementation: Be specific. Include management responsibilities with dates and budgets. Make sure you can track results.
• Web Plan Summary: For e-commerce, include discussion of website, development costs, operations, sales and marketing strategies.
• Management Team: Describe the organization and the key management team members.
• Financial Analysis: Make sure to include at the very least your projected Profit and Loss and Cash Flow tables.

How do I get a job in the White House?

That depends upon what you bring to the table, i­ncluding your ambitions. There are three different kinds of job opportunities you can pursue at the White House: non-career positions, internships and career positions. Non-career positions are temporary. Once a new administration enters the White House, your term in that position will end. It's possible that the new president will keep you on staff, but you shouldn't count on it. An internship is an unpaid position. Instead of getting paid, an intern's compensation includes on-the-job experience and networking opportunities. Career positions are competitive, non-political jobs. They're similar to jobs in other industries.

Planning For the Unexpected in Business

Communication is Key

If your business trades on an international scale, then communication could be one of the biggest problems that you face. A good unified communications solution could be the difference between a fast recovery and complete disaster.

Take, for example, the recent protests and riots that have been occurring across Europe. The London riots this summer interrupted business for a lot of people, and many cities are facing issues even today thanks to the Occupy Wall Street riots – which have spread from the USA to Rome, London, and many other areas. If protestors can spread messages instantly using the power of the internet, then doesn’t it make sense for your business to harness unified communications too?

Top 10 Banks in the World 2011

With many banks in the world now, some are trustworthy while others exist just to confuse you and make money off you. The following are reliable and have great credibility

1.- Citibank
2.- JP Morgan Chase
3.- HSBC
4.- Bank of America
5.- Credit Agricole Group
6.- Royal Bank of Scotland
7.- Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group
8.- Mizuho Financial Group
9.- HBOS
10.- BNP Paribas

Top Banks in the World

Listed below is a selection of the top banks worldwide ranked on total assets in US$. Our World and Country Bank Rankings are based on the total assets of a bank calculated from year end figures gained from submitted balance sheets. Bankers' Almanac World and Country Bank Rankings are updated each quarter.