<![CDATA[Business Resources & Advice - Free Forums - Blogs]]> http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php Free Business Advice Forums - Business Start Up, Venture Capital, Equity Financing, Buy Sell a Business en Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:03:48 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/images/bizworld3/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[Business Resources & Advice - Free Forums - Blogs]]> http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php Dealing with Collection Problems in a Small Business http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=16 Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:24:39 GMT

Collection & Bad Debt Solutions

Keeping up with customer debts, as well as maintaining an accurate record of payments received, are fundamental business elements.

Often there are logical reasons for accounts not being paid and which are falling past the 90 days due date.

Our company would be pleased to assess your accounts receivable problems, with what we call our Proactive-Reactive Program. Below are just a few examples of what you can expect in our assessment.

The Proactive Approach

Assessing the problem on a proactive level involves allowing us to make recommendations and set up systems and policies to stop collection problems from occurring in the first place. This is our fundamental goal in any assessment.

It is essential, for example, to set up proper customer information and to have on file application forms with the data necessary to help you find your customers easily, if they renege on payments, go out of business or simply disappear.

Often extending too much to your customer in the way of product or service can result in a customer being unable to pay an account that was out of their league in the first place.

But how can you be sure of how much of your product or service you should extend?

When do you extend to the limit and when do you start asking for deposits or retainers?

We will work with you on setting up a safe credit application program to make sure you are not extending too much of your product and service, to prevent the risk of not getting paid in full. In some cases this may involve working with the major credit bureaus.

How many times has a company gone out of business leaving you with nothing but an outstanding account and a disconnected telephone number?

You try to collect, but if the company is out of business, how do you get your money? You try suing in court but because the company is an incorporated entity you are not allowed to sue or collect from the business owner personally.

You spend thousands in legal fees only to obtain a worthless uncollectable judgment and an expensive legal bill.

What you may not know is that as a business owner you have the right to incorporate “personal guarantee” policies into your customer accounts on incorporated companies.

This simply means that if the company goes out of business, the business owner can be held personally responsible for his account with you. This policy has to be set up properly when you open a customer account. It must also be set up sensitively, in order to gain a customer’s confidence, rather than hesitancy, in his transactions with you.

The Reactive Approach


Assessing the problem on a reactive level involves exactly that – reacting to the existing problem at hand.

We are not a collection agency and we do not collect. But we will set a system in place to help you collect. First, however, we will enable you to have the right frame of mind about collections.
Here are some suggestions:
  • Third party collection agencies make telephone calls and send letters. That is all they are licensed to do. They may report the debt into the customer’s credit bureau file. But even if they do actually collect for you, they are going to take 1/3 to 50% of every dollar they manage to collect. If you are lucky, they might manage to negotiate post-dated cheques over time. In many cases, you will send off your accounts and you will hear nothing back from them. Collection agencies generally have only about 20% success.

    If your company is a member of the credit bureau, you may be able to report your outstanding account into a customer’s credit file to leave a ‘black mark’ in their credit history, making it harder for them to get credit while your bad debt sits in their credit file.
  • If you want a skip trace to find the customer, or you want that customer to be sued in court, that collection agency, lawyer or skip tracer will be asking you for a deposit and perhaps a big one.
Keep in mind that millions of people are awarded judgments from the court that they can’t collect, simply because the customer has no assets. They spend and spend, trying to collect, but with no success.

A secretary or admin person could perform a lot of these collection tasks with right knowledge and/or the right software. Many companies hire in-house collection clerks on a part-time or contract basis. Many companies handle all their collection problems in-house.

Even Small Claims court documents can be downloaded from the Internet. You don’t necessarily need any legal knowledge to go after your account in Small Claims court, if the debt is a simple, cut-and-dried issue. Small Claims court recognises that people who come into their court may not have any legal knowledge, and the court can be somewhat accommodating.

Many companies handle simple Small Claims court matters themselves. They merely send a secretary or an employee from their accounting department to prove that the debt is outstanding.

Our objective is to evaluate your collection problems and determine what aspects could be handled most cost-effectively in-house, under a program we would design for you. We would also recommend which concerns should be looked after by third-party agencies, based on your budget and our assessment of how collectable we consider the debt to be.

www.corporatefactors.net ]]> corporatefactors.net http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=16 Will Obama be considered the most powerful man in the world ? http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=15 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 02:16:16 GMT Image: http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ctjUlOD4DB4J::http://www.noodle.co.uk/blog *Will Obama be considered the most powerful man in the...



Will Obama be considered the most powerful man in the world like all the presidents before him?


King vs President

1.
When Obama takes office he will have to deal with Iran almost immediately. Iran continues to build nuclear weapons and continues threats to destroy Israel off the map. (keep an eye on Russia’s alliance with Iran).

2.
The influx of government funds into the U.S. economy will fail. China (and perhaps Japan second) will be the first countries to no longer accept the U.S. Dollar. This will force the U.S into a recession far worst then in U.S. history. The U.S. will have no alternative but to merge with Europe forming the United States of Europe and making an even stronger European Union.

3.
The European Union will insist that all countries of world come under a standard currency to stabilise the world’s economy or face economic destruction. This will come in the form of all countries changing their currencies to the Euro Dollar or should I say the “Euro currency”. Due to fraud concerns the E.U. will insist on a paperless currency by either a card or microchip. All paper money known to mankind will be worthless.

4.
The cashless economy will serve to stabilise or save world markets. It will destroy the underground economy making it impossible for those who work for cash and do not pay income tax to remain underground. It will increase security, help to fight crime and find missing persons and wanted felons. A cashless economy will become law enforcment's best crime fighting machine. It now becomes impossible for anyone to buy, sell or travel without their being some financial record of any transaction of their movements. Any attempts to barter will be punished to the full extent of law.

5.
The European Union will be faced to appoint a leader and make no mistake about it, it won’t be Obama or an American for that matter. Gone are the days where the president of the United States was the most powerful man in the world.

The bankrupt United States no longer has any credibility in the world primarily as result of the controversy in Iraq. The E.U. will not allow an American to lead the European Union.

6.
To the world biggest surprise the most likely candidate to lead the European Union or the world for that matter will in fact be from the 11th Nation to join the European Union which is the country of Spain.

While many will laugh at the thought, the King of Spain Mr. Juan Carlos is currently the most qualified candidate out of all of the rulers currently in the E.U. or believed to join the E.U. His resume of schooling, religious studies, goes forever. The King of Spain has over 37 years of some of the best military training of any man in history.

Juan Carlos already has the title of "King of Jerusalem" (a title that that was given to Jesus in biblical times) and defender of Catholic Holy Land interests. .

7.
The most powerful man in the world will be someone who can be trusted not only by the countries of the world but is someone on neutral ground of a financially sovereign country like Spain.

The world leader must be someone who can be trusted to resolve the conflicts in the middleeast without the hidden self serving agenda of oil in the background like the U.S.

Juan Carlos is more trusted to deal with the middle east conflict to enter into peace treaties between the Jews and Muslims.

Every peace treaty signed between Israel and her enemie have been the direct or indirect result of the efforts made in Spain, at the Madrid conference.

Why would the middle east trust a leader from a counry that has already admited that their financial crisis is a result of the greed and sins wallstreet?

Most scholars and economists believe that the world will not really know or hear about the King of Spain till at least 2012 which is not far away.

In July 1996 "Endtime" magazine wrote an article called "Cashless Society - How Close?"

It was reported that the country of Spain had become the first and only country in the world which required under the penalty of law that all pets in the nation be injected with an I.D. chip.

A simple google search will show that human microchipping is not far away. It makes all the sense in the world with respect to securtiy and the endless problems with fraud and impersonation.

Currently if you become a victim of impersonation about the only things you have in the world to prove you are you are your fingerprints and your DNA.

People will love the idea of human microchipping and will line up in droves to have it done with smiles on their faces.

Line ups up for travel through customs will be cut in half by a single swipe of a microchip.

It may very well be Spain that will lead the way to human microchipping in the world.

Over the next three years keep a sharp eye on the European Union and watch it grow to be the most power government organization the world has ever known.

A great deal of the world's old comes from the middle east, don't think for one second that your life be it American or Canadian will not be effected by the conflicts in the middle east. We are already effected by these middle east conflicts everytime we pay for inflated gas prices to gas up our vehicles.
]]> corporatefactors.net http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=15 <![CDATA[FACEBOOK VS YOUR PRIVACY - You've Been Warned !!]]> http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=14 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:46:45 GMT Image: http://eroundlake.com/blog/uploaded_images/identity_theft-740304.jpg While I admit to joining the klan of facebook.com I find the site...



While I admit to joining the klan of facebook.com I find the site very dangerous in the way of personal privacy and people should be very concerned and warned.

I have written articles and even did a tv show on how impersonation is out of control. People who have had their lives destroyed because someone got a hold of their personal information and applied for credit in their name.

I interviewed a lady on my tv show who woke up one morning to a collection agency phone call. She discovered that someone impersonated her identity and managed to purchase two houses in her name in Gretzky’s home town of Brantford Ontario. She had no idea that someone had used her identity by applying for credit in her name.

It took years for her to get her life back.

Yet people who register on facebook post their name and their date of birth right out in the open for anyone to see.

Many on facebook will argue they use their privacy settings and only close friends see personal information. This is great for those who actually use their privacy settings.

There are networks after networks of interest groups that allow people who you may not directly know to see your personal information. They are allowed to see it because your privacy settings have allowed people in the same network to see your personal data.

Many assume because they have an interest in common with someone, skiing, music, church, city events that a person in that network is not going to compromise their data. Do you really know everyone in your network?

Yet bigger city networks like “Toronto” or joining a network where in the city where you reside can be a great place for would be fraudsters to take your personal information and apply for credit.

Your Name & Date of Birth is all it takesPeople need to realise that all it takes is your name and date of birth to steal your identity.



Facebook A Great Place To Harvest

The word to be aware of is “harvesting”. Right now I can go on facebook and within less that an hour I can harvest names and dates of birth of dozens after dozens of people. If I really tried I could probaby average 100 names and dates of birth in an hour. People who I don’t know, who are not in any network.

Personal data out in the open makes you vulnerable to attack by fraudsters to get your data to apply for credit in your name. Problem is people don’t realise just how bad the problem is. There is no recourse, you’re on your own trying to clean up your life if you’re impersonated. Don’t expect the police to do it for you and don’t expect that the fraudster will actually get caught. Act proactive rather then reacting to a crisis later.

Impersonation fraud is the biggest growing crime on a world wide level. If you have a home you could also be a victim of mortgage fraud or have your house sold right from under you with the aid of the data you gave up on facebook.com

Teenagers and children are the best targets. Kids who have not yet established credit ratings. A nice clean name, date of birth and address is all a fraudster needs to start applying for credit in your child’s name.

The Federal Trade Commission just did a warning to the public that over 400,000 children and have already had their identity stolen and many don’t even know it yet. This will include teenagers.

If your address is posted all the better. If they get a hold of your Social Insurance Number or Social Security Number you’re done like dinner you may never get your life back.

You’ll spend years trying to clean up your credit rating convincing creditors and collection agencies that you’re you and not the fraudster who managed to swindle thousands from banks and credit agencies using your name.

There was just a news article recently where a victim of impersonation was reported dead to the government, yet he was alive and well. He spent months just trying to convince the government he was not dead and his problems continue.

You could find the IRS or Revenue Canada knocking on your door or even the police or perhaps immigration.

The answers to virtually all verification questions asked by a bank or credit agency to prove you are you can be answered on facebook.com

Let’s start with the most common question that all credit card companies ask to verify you? “What’s your mother’s maiden name”? Your dog’s name, where did you attend school. Your previous addresses. Take a look at the verification questions used by web based email services like hotmail.com when you sign up.

Many of these questions could be answered by looking on facebook.com.

There may be those who may want to use your name and date of birth to commit a crime or get a job when they don’t have status to work in the country.

Ask yourself could someone easily recreate your resume from facebook depending on the information you posted?

I am fascinated by those who post their resume. Where you went to school, what degrees you have, your past jobs, your marital status. Your interests, where you volunteer, you associations and degrees. Even your religious beliefs.

What about child predators seeking to hurt and exploit children.

People continue to post pictures of their children, some have posted where they go to school or daycare and even what time they are picked up. Your toddler could even be at risk.

The security risks to openly posted personal data are endless.

If you give away too much personal information your jugglar vein is exposed waiting for the kill. If you’re impersonated there are only two things in the world that can prove you’re you. Your DNA and your fingerprints. You’ll spend a lifetime trying to get your life back.

Be careful what personal information you give up on any website. ]]> corporatefactors.net http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=14 Due Diligence - Investigate Now or Litigate Later http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=11 Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:22:36 GMT Image: http://www.kennedyfundinginternational.com/Kennedyfunding,%20lawsuits.jpg How many times have you heard about acquisitions that went bad...
How many times have you heard about acquisitions that went bad shortly after the deal was signed?

If you are thinking about buying or selling a business or investing in one, you want to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

This is why we always discuss Investigating before Investing. Either you Investigate now or you litigate later.

The best way to protect yourself is to do enough "due diligence" to ensure that you know what you are buying or investing in.

What is due diligence?

Due Diligence is really a form of risk management most commonly known as doing your homework before you invest. "We want to make sure we believe the story before we invest."

The Due Diligence Check List and Investigative Due Diligence

There are a number of forms of Due Diligence. The most common form of Due Diligence is that of the "Due Diligence Check List."

This is a checklist which a corporate lawyer will request that the seller complete prior to closing or making the investment on behalf of the client.

This can be a very small list, or in some situations the check list can be very lengthy and exhaustive. In some cases the list can be up to 100 pages of items to be provided before closing.

Here are just a few examples that might be found on a standard due diligence check list:

Standard Due Diligence Check List

What You Should Be Asking For?
  • Letters from Provincial/Federal/State/County government confirming that all tax returns are filed to date with no arrears owing (i.e. payroll, sales tax, health tax and taxes from year-ends).
  • Articles of Incorporation.
  • Minute Books.
  • Shareholder Agreements.
  • All Tax Returns Filed To Date.
  • All Year-end Reports To Date.
  • External and Internal Auditors Reports.
  • Letters of verification confirming that all Provincial/Federal/State/County taxes have been paid.
  • Letter from Commercial Landlord confirming lease terms and no arrears.
  • Powers of Attorney.
  • Government licenses, permits, approvals etc.
  • Litigation/Execution confirming no judgments, pending or threatened litigation, claims or disputes.
  • Listing of outside contractors.
  • Loan agreements, lines of credit, debt instruments, notes payable, guarantees (by or in favor of the company), and any other agreements collateralized or secured by the assets.
You may wish to obtain more information on your due diligence check lists, we have a number of samples. Alternatively, it is really best to consult a corporate lawyer.

Investigative Due Diligence

Investigative Due Diligence is a whole different ball game. It is in fact a background investigation on the individual and/or the company.

Investigative Due Diligence can be conducted with or without the knowledge of the individual or the company being investigated. This is your decision to make.

It is perfectly lawful for you to retain an investigation company to conduct a background investigation without anyone knowing about it.

You must first make a decision whether you want to have the owner or the company investigated, or both. Our position is to always do both.
The Owner Of The Company

If you are investing funds in a company, it is the owner(s) who will be responsible for how the funds are spent within the company.

What happens if the owner is in great financial difficulty?

What if there are outstanding lawsuits, judgments, child support obligations and credit card debts? Where do you honestly expect the invested funds to end up first?

The owner may have told his or her outstanding creditors that payment would be resolved once company financing is in place. This could suggest that much of the funds invested will go to paying off personal debts instead of using the funds to expand the company as proposed in the business plan.

In many cases where troubled companies are looking for capital, the owners have exhausted much of their personal reserves. You can expect that paying off personal debts will happen in most of these situations. It is important, however, to know just how bad the debt situation is.

We need to get a rough idea just how much of the investor's money will actually make it into the company.

We also want to find out as much as possible about the past tactics of the owner.
  • Have there been other companies owned by this individual that have gone bankrupt shortly after financing was obtained?
  • Are there any old or current lawsuits against the owner or the company?
  • Has the owner ever been bankrupt?
  • Can this owner be trusted ?
  • What kind of person is he?
  • Does he get on well with employees and managers?
  • Is he a proven leader with vision?
  • Has this person ever been written up in the media, a trade journal, or an industry publication? Was it a good or bad article ?
  • Where does he live? What kind of car does he drive? How much money does he have in the bank? What is the status of the mortgage on his home?
In a recent reported case an owner who had obtained financing for his company was deeply indebted to creditors. The owner did everything possible to get money out of the company and into his pocket.

Numerous fictitious invoices and companies had been created by the owner. The owner wrote cheques to these companies which appeared on the books as nothing more than valid business expenditures.

Thousands went into his pocket through one company name or another. It is the oldest trick in the book.

(Credit Searches, Criminal Records & The Law)

The Controversial Stuff
Two very important investigations to conduct on the owner, in the background stage, are a credit search and a criminal record search.

The credit search is important because it will yield information about the balance on credit cards, collection matters, previous addresses, past employment, the works.

Credit Searches
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (USA), and the Consumer Reporting Act (CAN) make it illegal for anyone to conduct a credit search on an individual without their consent. This means that you will have to advise the owner that you wish to conduct a credit search on him or her or you will not invest.

Just like applying for a loan, it is expected that a credit search will be conducted. It is best for you to draw up a simple written authorization and have the owner sign it. This is a very important search in the investigative due diligence process.

Criminal Record Searches
The law in regard to criminal record searches varies from state to state in the United States. In Canada it is not public record so it is completely illegal for you to obtain a criminal record search on an individual without their consent.

If the owner resides in a location where criminal record information is not public record, you are going to have to instruct the owner to go out and obtain his or her own Certificate of Non-Conviction from their local police station. How to obtain this document will vary from county to county. Inquiries will have to start at your local police division.

If an owner should refuse to give consent in these two areas, your alarm bells should start ringing.

There may very well be a skeleton in the closet.

Unlike the employee and employer relationship, in most investment situations you have the right to refuse to invest for any reason; you may not even have to give a reason at all. ]]> corporatefactors.net http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=11 Why Canadian Businesses Fail http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=10 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:45:37 GMT *Image: http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/going-out-of-business.jpg * *Why Canadian Businesses Fail* What would...


Why Canadian Businesses Fail


What would happen if you were given a key to a race car for which you had only the manual (a written plan), but you had no previous driving experience?

You take your new race car out on to the track and find yourself surrounded by other race car drivers on fast moving track. You try to follow the manual (your written plan), but you discover it’s useless without practical driving experience.

Within moments, you crash into a wall and bring down other race car drivers with you. You suffer injuries that affect you and others for a very long time.

Banks, lenders, and business development organizations wonder why new start-up businesses in Canada continue to crash into the wall at record rates.

Even with the most perfect written business plan, many lenders no longer lend to new start-up businesses simply because the risk for failure is too high.

A friend of mine was recently laid off from a job she had for many years. Like most people she went on unemployment benefits while she struggled to look for work.

Realising her hope for employment in Canada was bleak she decided to start her own business. She had no previous experience running a business.

She discovered a government-sponsored program that would allow her to receive unemployment benefits while starting her own business. The only catch to the deal was she would have to attend and complete the unemployment business training course on how to properly start her own business, or her unemployment benefits would be cut off.

While taking the class she came to me almost weekly seeking help with her business plan. I soon realised that her course was very focused on the written business plan, with very little practical training involved.

Every business scholar and successful entrepreneur would agree that a written business plan is crucial to the start-up process.

Before a building can be built there has to be a solid blueprint. Essentials to a business plan are strategies such as the mission statement, target market, industry analysis, competition, marketing, financial projections and so on.

There is, however, a limit to what can be learned in a classroom setting, without hands-on experience or through the examples of successful entrepreneurs.

If government lenders, banks and others continue to focus exclusively on well-written business plans, they might as well attach a bankruptcy application form to each loan application.

There are many reasons why businesses fail, and in most cases failure has little to do with not following the actual business plan.


CANADA’S BUSINESS TAX SYSTEM

A new small business owner may not be properly prepared to handle Canada’s tax system.

After a year or so in business, the owner can expect government envelopes to begin arriving almost daily in the mail.

All levels of government will be looking for their money. There will be Municipal, Provincial and Federal taxes, plus GST. If your business qualifies you may also be subject to Retail Sales Tax and Workman’s Compensation dues.

Hiring an employee or two will launch the new business owner into Canada’s complicated and expensive payroll system. Many business associations continue to lobby against Canada’s excessive business payroll tax.

They maintain the expensive payroll system alone is prohibiting new start-ups from providing job opportunities. They say this is the true reason why there are few jobs available in Canada. Entrepreneurs simply don’t want to do business here because of our tax system.

A business owner can expect that more than 50% of every dollar earned will be paid out in tax. This means the tax man is your partner and you may not even know it. That is of course if you’re a business that actually pays tax as many don’t. If you do you may find yourself competing with competitors undermining your prices whom have given up and illegally joined the underground economy.

Understanding Canada’s business tax system and how to manage and pay business tax on time can make the difference between success and failure.


Other Challenges

And what about other aspects of business that may not be covered in the business plan? For example:

· Renting space; dealing with commercial landlords who seek long term leases with hidden personal guarantees that may prevent your business from growing when you can’t break out of a lease.

· financing equipment and vehicles successfully

· finding the right insurance for the business and its employees

· Coping with suppliers or customers who don’t pay.

· Dealing with bad debt, insurance claims, lawyers, accountants, customs and freight brokers.

· entering into contracts

· Learning how to hire and fire employees, and discovering their rights under the employment legislation

Some of these issues alone are documented business killers.


What is the Answer?

In the early days of the Internet there was a Dot Com Venture Capital boom. Millions of dollars were being invested by Venture Capitalists and private lenders into new start-ups. Some deals went well; others were disastrous.

During this time, I read about a few Venture Capital firms who made the decision to nurture the business in which they were investing on many different levels.

For example, the new start-ups were not only well-financed by lenders/investors, they were provided with office space sometimes in the same building as the lender or on the same floor.

The owners and staff were given basic business training paid for by the lender/investors. They virtually had a professional venture capitalist holding their hand each step of the way.

Imagine one of Canada’s leading banks lending to new start-ups under a new training program. Before a potential loan applicant could even get an appointment to see a loan rep, they would have to complete a joint government and bank sponsored professional business course.

A course available day, nights, or weekends to accommodate any schedule, taught by qualified business professionals who were not only teachers but were successful entrepreneurs in their own right.

Entrepreneurs who focus not only on the written business plan but who could teach on all the expected struggles of running a Canadian business. A course that could cover various aspects of industry, such as retail, construction, manufacturing, technology etc.

In Canada we have subsidized housing for those who cannot afford to pay expensive rent. Imagine government-subsidized commercial space for new businesses trying to grow.


Why should we expect the government to pay or assist with such training?


Every new business created is a new tax payer to our system. A company who will pay the government 50% or more on every dollar earned. Each employee who works at the new company will also pay an array of other taxes. An employee who is making money will also spend money into the economy.

The failure of a company, from a government standpoint, is the death of a tax payer. It is in the government’s best interest to keep businesses alive and offer incentives for business to be created and to grow, so that jobs can be created.

Giving out government grants to new start ups using well-designed business plans to the untrained and unqualified only increases the financial coffers of bankruptcy trustees.

Note:

If your business failed in Canada, we would appreciate you telling us your story via our feedback of this blog.

We continue to research and set up programs to help businesses grow and prevent them from failing.


The Author:
Kevin Bousquet is the president of The Corpa Group Inc; a Private Investigation and Due Diligence firm working for the Venture Capital Industry. ]]> corporatefactors.net http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=10 Asset Protection Insurance - A Great Idea !! http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=6 Fri, 16 May 2008 14:20:16 GMT We have a unique insurance product that fulfils many long-term needs such as: Creditor Proofing; Intergenerational Rollover of Assets; An... We have a unique insurance product that fulfils many long-term needs such as:

Creditor Proofing;

Intergenerational Rollover of Assets;

An Alternative to Liability Insurance; and

Protection of Intellectual Property (including royalty, license and any payment streams).

Creditor Proof Your Assets Against Future Liabilities

This product will creditor proof your assets and insures their replacement should a successful attack on your assets ever occur.

It is effective against any creditor or claimant; be they clients, business associates, partners, or personal contacts (your current family or future members of your estate).

Virtually any asset can be protected in a policy including cash and securities, but real estate, private equity, gems, art and intellectual property.

Intergenerational Rollover of Assets

The product will dovetail with any estate plan, freeze and existing insurance planning proposal.

In fact, it will not only protect assets for future generations from the standpoint of all litigation and/or regulatory, family, or economic incident, but do so for as much as 100 years in the future.

Families can rest assured that all assets will transfer unencumbered and as planned regardless of intervening future events.

This is a superior alternative to prenuptial agreements.

Alternative to Liability Insurance this product is designed to replace costly initiatives such as medical malpractice insurance but is equally applicable to any liability coverage.

It protects all of the estate assets inside the policy and rates will not increase as a result of prior claims history or subsequent findings of negligence.

If you are a consumer of liability coverage that has seen rates skyrocket for any claim history, this is an excellent alternative solution.

Protection of Intellectual Property and Royalty Streams:

This insurance will protect and preserve the sanctity of intellectual property from creditors and others that might seek to control or influence its use. The policy can be administrated to allow for licensing to other parties and cash flow payments can be made directly to the policy, protecting both the asset and the resultant payment flow as well.

The insurance policy is transferrable making it an excellent vehicle for transacting the sale of intellectual property. As with all of the applications mentioned, the product is ideal for corporations, partnerships, foundations, trusts and individuals alike.

For further information on the application and usage of asset protection insurance products in detail visit our web site;

www.aseassurance.com

Allied Sovereign and Equitable Assurance Company Ltd.,

Asset Protection Insurance ]]> Jeff Lipton http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=6 The Venture Capital Broker Scam http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=5 Wed, 14 May 2008 03:51:23 GMT Image: http://federalbankruptcy.org/images/bankruptcy/bankruptcy_250x251.jpg Scams To Watch For (If you are seeking investment) If you use a...

Scams To Watch For (If you are seeking investment)

If you use a company or a middleman such a loan broker to try to find you an investor or a venture capitalist, you may be asked to pay a large fee up front before any financing has been obtained.

This advance payment may be called a processing fee, finder’s fee, or credit application fee.Prior to being told about the up-front fee, you will be put through an exhaustive array of frustrating paper work which will include credit applications, the business plan, references, co-signers, numerous interviews, etc.

Even though you have been told the fee is completely refundable, you may have trouble collecting your refund through the court system if the middleman has no assets.You should be aware that there are thousands of fraudulent companies and fraudulent middlemen who make their living scamming for these processing fees. The agreement between you will be so fine that you may find yourself in the cold as a result of some unconditional clause in the contract.

There are hundreds of reasons why you could be denied independent financing under the contact.This processing fee scam has gotten so bad there has been new legislation written in many States and Provinces to protect consumers from it. This type of scam is most commonly found in the mortgage broker and loan broker field.

I could write a book on the number of mortgage brokers I have investigated in my career.If you are using a middleman you must check references. Have them give you the name of 10 to 20 individuals for whom financing has been successfully obtained. Pick up the phone and call these individuals.

If you are nervous about paying the finder’s fee, pay the fee to your lawyer in “trust.” Your lawyer will disburse the finder’s fee only when the financing is in place. Just have your lawyer write the middleman a letter confirming that his fees are being held in trust upon completion of financing. It must be your lawyer, and not the lawyer acting for the middleman.

There are a number of legitimate middlemen out there who work on a “No Find No Fee” basis; to find them you’re going to have to call around. A reputable real estate lawyer or securities lawyer should be able to refer you to someone.We are not stereotyping these middlemen. We’re merely suggesting that if you are dealing with an individual or a company whom you don’t know, you must check references.

You may even wish to perform a litigation search to see if the middleman has ever been a defendant in a lawsuit. This basic search should cost you no more than $100.Scams To Watch For (If you are an investor) Needless to say, the investigative and due diligence efforts that have to be made by an investor cannot be summarized in a few paragraphs.

There is an endless number of situations in which investors have been scammed lending money to new ventures that were nothing more than fraudulent paper corporations with no real foundation. The money gets invested into a corporation, the directors abscond with the money, and the company goes bankrupt.

The same scam can apply to fraudulent real estate deals.We would suggest that all investors conduct extensive due diligence and investigative research before extending money to any individual or company. It is important to investigate not only the company you’re looking to invest in, but most of all the individuals who are truly behind the company.

Do these individuals have criminal records? Have they been defendants in lawsuits? Is there a history of bankruptcy, in which the individual formed a company that was shortly bankrupted after being financed by investors?It will be necessary to know where these individuals were before they started their new venture. If they were in a previous business, why did it fail? What is the likelihood of success this time around?

We would again suggest that if you do not know how to do your own due diligence or homework (or you just don’t have the time) then you may wish to consider an outside source.It is best to go to a corporate lawyer (in the city where you reside) who can refer you to a reputable Private Investigator or Forensic Accountant. ]]> corporatefactors.net http://www.corporatefactors.net/forum/blog.php?b=5