Business

Strategic Business Plans Pay Off

February 23, 2011 By Sherry Tingley

Any business starts with an idea. Ideas are then put down on paper, discussed with esteemed partners and friends or at least mulled over in your own mind. Work begins to put the business strategy into production.

Strategic business plans — Rare Earth Mine Mountain Pass, California owned by Molycorp Inc.

Small business plans are created in the same way large business create their plans. In fact, looking at the development of large companies is helpful to the small business owner. Modeling the success strategies they use can help you take your business to the next level.

Molycorp Inc.

For example, the story behind the scenes of the well publicized Molycorp, Inc. gives small business owners key strategies to emulate. Making a paper profit of $2.3 billion dollars in less than three years, Molycorp Inc. made some strategic business plans.

Molycorp Minerals LLC was formed in 2008 by a group of investors. Two critical players in this LLC are Mark S. Kristoff, CEO of Trayxs, (which provides financial services for the mining, metals and minerals industries) and Dr. Ross R. Bhappu, of Resource Capital Funds (focused on investing exclusively in the mining and minerals industry).

These two individuals have expert, inside knowledge of the mining industry. When Mr. Kristoff was just 12 years old, his father, who worked as an executive at the mine, gave him a tour of the Mountain Pass rare earth mine in California, one of the largest rare earth mines in North America. Dr. Bhappu’s father was also an executive at the mine which was then owned by a Union Oil company. In 2005, the company was acquired by Chevron.

Mr. Kristoff and Dr. Bhappu developed an interest in buying the Mountain Pass mine in 2005. In 2008, Chevron sold the mine to their LLC because they promised to keep the existing employees and to revitalize the unproductive mine. It had been inactive since 2002. Mr. Mark Smith, former President of Mining for Chevron was lured away from Chevron to become the new CEO of Molycorp Inc.

Investment Strategies

In the beginning, there were four principal investors in the company, Resource Capital Funds, Pegasus Capital Advisors, Traxys and Goldman Sachs. In 2009, Goldman Sachs sold their shares of the company because the economy was in such turmoil.

Demand Exceeds Supply

Molycorp Inc. invested $80 million into upgrading the mining equipment and facility. Currently producing 3,000 tons per year, their next goal is to produce 20,000 tons. Leaders have predicted that this will double in production by 2014. With China recently announcing that they are limiting the export of rare earth materials, demand (predicted to be 190,1000 tons in 2014) is now exceeding the supply (170,000 tons). Cerium oxide rose in price from $6,000 to $71,000. Ianthanum oxide rose from $8,400 to $73,000.

Production of Green Technologies

The rare earth minerals that will come from this mine are used in many green earth technologies like wind turbines and hybrid cars. They are also used in electronics, plasma and LCD televisions and the widely popular Apple Ipad.

The combination of the world events and good strategic business planning by the Molycorp, Inc. leaders have caused, “one of the fastest windfalls in private-equity history.” (Wall Street Journal).

Small Business Plans

For small business owners, the key strategies that created this success were familiarity and expertise with the product line, choosing products that are in demand, effectively using global trade news to make plans, hard work, passionate leaders and the ability to communicate their business plans to key investors. Definitely a good model for small business owners to emulate.

The Value of Scarcity and Uniqueness in Business

April 14, 2010 By Sherry Tingley

Auctions can bring hefty prices for unique, rare items. Recently, a manual typewriter fetched the amount of $254,000.

Why the astronomical price? You may wonder about this because living in the digital age, who needs a typewriter?

Possibly similar to the sale of one of Michael Jackson’s glove, this memorabilia belonged to Cormac McCarthy, American fiction writer. From this humble looking typewriter, McCarthy typed more than 5 million words over a period of 50 years.

cormac-typewriter — The Lettera 32 Olivetti Typewriter

Cormac McCarthy, born in 1933, is an American novelist and playwright sometimes compared to Faulkner. Six of his novels were made into films. Well known for his 2007, Pulitzer prize winning, work of fiction called, “The Road.”

In 2008, McCarthy was awarded the Pen/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction. His work was recognized for qualities of excellence, ambition and scale of achievement during his writing career. This places him in the highest ranks of American literature.

People predicted his typewriter may go for $18K or so. Those predictions were far below the price it received. The large sum of money was donated to a scientific research organization, the Santa Fe Institute.

The qualities of uniqueness combined with scarcity can drive up the value of an item exponentially. With many competing businesses in similar niches popping up all over the web, thousands will collapse and a few will prosper. It seems to be a natural cycle of business.

If you want your Internet business to prosper, ask yourself if you have something to offer people that is both unique and scarce. The more you can meet this criteria, the better your business will do. What can you bring to the table that is different from every other company? Opportunities to create new, unique products are endless.

The entrepreneur in us sees opportunities everywhere we look, but many people see only problems everywhere they look. The entrepreneur in us is more concerned with discriminating between opportunities than he or she is with failing to see the opportunities. ~Michael Gerber

How To Register A Trademark

March 15, 2010 By Sherry Tingley

If you are in business for yourself, you might be interested in learning about trademarks and possibly registering a trademark for your company.

Owning a trademark is appealing to people because they hope that one day, their particular brand may receive universal recognition. This universal recognition can make your company become more profitable than you may have imagined.

Historically, famous trademark names like Levi Strauss Jeans, Dutch Boy, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola have made life long impressions on millions of people. There are trademarks on other things that you may not have thought of like sounds. In 1924, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer registered the sound of a lion roaring. When you go to the movies today, you’ll hear that sound and associate it with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie productions. Even the design of buildings can be trademarked. The famous McDonald’s golden arches are trademarked.

Images can be trademarked and they have powerful effects on consumers. The most reproduced image in the world is that of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. There are over 7,500 items that have that image on it. The second most reproduced image is that of Jesus. Surely you’ve seen thousands of products with his image on them. You may be surprised to know that the third most reproduced image is of Elvis Presley and he “ain’t nothing but a hound dog.”

The average person knows what these symbols, sounds and words mean and generally that is good for business because of their universal appeal. So how does that affect you and your new business?

Suppose you have been dreaming of a new product or already have a great product and a very unique name for that product. You will want to make sure that you and your company are the people who benefit from your brilliance. You don’t want other people using this name to generate profits for themselves which will ultimately diffuse your profit making efforts. The best thing to do is to get a trademark for your name, idea or product.

Cost of Trademarking

This is perhaps the first question on your mind. It has a complicated answer. There are fees involved in getting a trademark and they vary. You may be able to complete the process for as low as $325.00 or if you have a lawyer handle it for you, you could be looking at several thousand dollars in fees.

How To Trademark

The government has a special procedure for you to apply for a trademark. Perhaps the easiest thing for you to do is to call them at 1-800 786-9199. If you want to be a bit more prepared to talk to them, you’ll need to find out if the idea you have is already trademarked. You can use a trademark search at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

You can apply online for a trademark, but you must be able to provide information in a timely fashion. They have strict deadlines that must be met to process your application. You will need to provide the name of the applicant, name and address for correspondence, a clear drawing of your symbol or the words you want trademarked, the goods or services you intend to provide and a filing fee.

Once you submit that information, a lawyer will research it and decide whether it will be approved. This procedure may take up to two months. Once it is approved, they will print a public notice in the the Official Gazette. The public is given 30 days to issue a protest against your filing if they can prove that your trademark will be damaging to their business. If you make it through that step, then within 3 months you will be issued a NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE. Then you have six months to notify them of your intended STATEMENT OF USE plan. Once that is sent in and approved, you will be issued a REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE.

Do you think it’s worth your time and effort to register a trademark? I’m sure Levi Strauss did!

Developing Strong Leadership Skills

November 17, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

Having good leadership skills does not come easy. It is a long, ongoing process that consists of research and internalizing what was read and learned. Training an individual to become a leader by learning from past and present leaders is one of the best methods. One can learn from or even acquire the good qualities of those great leaders.

There are several qualities present in a great leader and businessman. An individual running a business must have both in order to become successful. Here are a few tips:

Think and Act Like a Businessman/Businesswoman

In order to be a great businessman or businesswoman for that matter, you must think and act like one. Connect yourself to other individuals that share the same passion as you and those who can motivate you further.

Finances Inside and Out

Understanding how the finances work in the business and how to make the business grow differentiates the entrepreneur from the common employee. If you do not know what profit you made this month, you are in very big trouble.

Ads, Ads, Ads

A great business does not solely rely on the performance of its product alone, but relies heavily in its marketing. Research who the target market for the business is and how to effectively present your product or service to them.

Know Your Enemies

Like in the Art of War, it is also important to know and understand about the existing competition in order to build a successful business.

A Leader with a Mission

Have a clear mission and vision for the business. Motivate your employees to join you in attaining this mission and vision.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

To be able to lead you would need to respect your employees and your clients. Respecting the people around you will be reciprocated with respect as well.

Passion

An exceptional leader is passionate in what he or she does. The best leaders are dedicated to their work and motivate other people to follow them.

Lead by Example

A great leader leads by example and is confident in what he or she does. By knowing every single detail about your business and doing what your employees do will encourage others to put their best efforts as well.

Confidence

The confidence a leader displays during times of uncertainty and doubt affects that of his peers and followers. Great leaders are calm even in disastrous situations and have the ability to direct or redirect attention to follow the key vision for the business.

Team Worker

Exemplary leaders also have the ability to work well with a group. In order to achieve a common goal, a great leader has the capacity and willingness to work with a team. A great leader sets the goal and makes appropriate steps in going towards that goal.

Excellence

Lastly, an excellent leader is dedicated to giving excellence in all aspects of the business. Great leaders do not waiver in terms of values and is passionate in setting the standards in the business higher.

These are some of the most important characteristics demonstrated by outstanding leaders and entrepreneurs. As previously mentioned, these are not often present in every individual and must be constantly learned, improved on and reinforced. Outstanding leaders and entrepreneurs have the capacity and willingness to adapt and learn to be better in their respective roles.

Designing A Company Logo

November 17, 2009 By Sherry Tingley

A company without a logo is like a person without a face. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? If you happen to bump into a person without a face while walking down the street, you’d probably freak out. Maybe you’d even think that he’s from another planet. Well, this also applies to a company or business that doesn’t have a company logo. Prospects, clients and customers will have second thoughts dealing with your company or buying a product from you if a company logo is lacking.

This very small detail called the logo actually does a lot in making your business grow. A lot of business people neglect the importance of having a company logo, and this is a big no-no. Before you even think you can do without having a company logo, read on and you’ll find out the importance of having your own company logo.

Basically, business starts in getting noticed and identified. A company logo will help customers notice and identify your business or company. That’s how important that piece of drawing is. It helps people know your company’s existence. Establishing your identity in the world of business is a very important matter as business starts when people become aware of your business operation. Thus, having a company logo designed by a professional is one step closer to a thriving business.

Imagine giving away t-shirts or hats with your company logo to your valued customers. This is a very effective strategy to promote your business. Not only do you get to reward your loyal customers and clients, you also get to promote your company. Good investment, isn’t it? What about retail stores that purchase shopping bags for their customers. That is the perfect place to put your custom designed company logo.There are lots of items you can get your company logo printed on. If you want to increase your company’s popularity, why not give away a mug, keychain, and greeting cards with, of course, your company logo printed. These things can also be given to your employees and staff for their own use.

Having a company logo is really a great move towards a successful business. And since this should not be taken for granted, it is best to have a professional logo maker take care of your company logo. In this manner, you won’t end up with a piece of junk or a copycat company logo. Plus, professional logo makers will even help you come up with great promotional item ideas bearing the logo, such as:

-Automotive Promotional Products

-Business Card Holders

-Personalized Bags and Totes

-Brochures

-Appointment Products

-Personalized Cards

-Checks

-Letterhead Stationery

Surely, a company logo is your company’s face, your company’s identity. With the help of an expert logo maker, your company logo will be as popular and as recognizable as the Golden Arches, Converse Star or M&M’s.