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  • Will You Add? - How To Conduct On-Line Due Diligence Before Entering Into Business Relationships

    Restaurant Hand Held Terminals - An Overview
    The History of Hand Held Terminals in RestaurantsThe desire for restaurant hand held terminals and wireless restaurant software has been around since the invention of the electronic cash registers in the 1980's. When restaurateurs saw the power of the electronic cash register how it stored and recalled orders, how it dispersed orders to various kitchen and preparation printers and how it helped control the flow of the restaurant the desire to have this power in the palm of your hand has been there. It is only recently that technology caught up to the demand.In the 1990's a couple of companies introduced hand held terminals to restaurants with limited success. Displays were small and therefore limited menu items. Battery life was short and limited use. But the demand was still there because the tremendous benefits to the restaurant owner.I distinctly remember a trip to an NFL game where the stadium food provider used Seiko hand held terminals to take orders from customers sitting in their seats. I was about 6 seats from the aisle and placed an order for a drink and a hot dog fixed the way I wanted. The server took th
    l go to their web site and see what kind of records that are accessible on-line for you to search. If you don’t know the name of the county, you can locate a County by just knowing the City and State by going to the U.S Census Bureau and searching their database located here: http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup?state=01000

    Or you can locate a County by Zip Code by searching this database by just entering a zip code http://www.usatrace.com/Search.html

    As soon as you locate the counties web site that you want to search just run the subjects name and company name through the various online databases. It can be very interesting to what you might find through courthouse records.

    You should also run the subjects name, company name, phone number, any addresses separately through Google- Using each category- Main Google, Google Groups, Google News. I typically run the above search criteria through Google to see what I can find and where it links to. You can also verify if any address is a mail drop (like Mail boxes Etc.) or if it is actually a street location by using a free database search located here: http://www.finaid.com/scholarships/maildropsearch.phtml

    Let me

    Actively Market Your Value
    "Bodacious" means to be bold, outstanding, and remarkable. Take those attributes to work and you're on your way to building a fulfilling, bodacious career. Does having a bodacious career sound exciting to you? It is! After starting as an $8 an hour customer service rep, I rose through the ranks of AOL, accepting four promotions and surviving over six layoffs to become the head of corporate training for 12,000 employees. Along the way I learned I needed to be bodacious to achieve the career I wanted. Out of that experience I created my "cheat sheet" of ten essential Bodacious Career Builders. Here's number four: Actively Market Your ValueOne day while I was driving north on the interstate to speak at Princeton University, a billboard suddenly caught my attention. Amongst all the other colorful billboards promoting products and services that to this day I can't remember, this billboard was white with some simple black lettering. In large letters it read: Don't Advertise! "Huh?" I thought. Then I read the smaller writing below the alarming statement: Success is Overrated. "What?! No, it's not!" my mind was screaming. Now thoroughly
    Do you enter into business relationships, acquisitions, property investments, partnerships, or enter into a transaction without first verifying a companies identity, associates and affiliations?

    Most people do and your not alone. However most entrepreneurs still enter into business relationships with curiosity and unanswered questions they may have regarding a company or associate of a particular company. Wouldn’t it be beneficial to you and or your company to limit liability and risk by conducting due diligence before entering into business relationships?

    By limiting your risk and liability your business will have a far greater chance to succeed. By conducting simple due diligence and developing your own profile on any person or business you will have a much better understanding of a particular business and its associates which is vital to your business decisions. 90% of the information you need to know can be found on-line. You just have to know where to look for it, and how to look for it. I will show you how you can develop your own profile on anyone or any business on-line for free.

    Example on a property investment acquisition. I contacted an individual who had placed a classified add through an on-line newspaper under real estate finance/services for hard money lending, private money lenders. I was really just trying to get a feel for the market in that specific area of the country. I do this by contacting various types of real estate professionals such Agents, brokers, title companies/escrow, private/hard money lenders, bird dogs, wholesalers, etc. When I call I get their personal name and the company name they work for (if any). If it’s a company its usually an LLC which is very common in the real estate industry or another type of corporate entity. A lot of times people talk fast or not very clear on the phone. So I always have them spell out their name and company name and have them provide me any additional contact numbers that they can provide should I need to speak with them at another time.

    When the subject I’m speaking to on the phone tells me the name of the company he or she represents and it is a corporate entity such as an LLC, S-Corp, partnership, etc. I know right away I can get the corporate members names within a few minutes. I will first go to the states web site in which the individual claims to conduct business in and lookup the entity online by the name of the company.

    Just about all the states in the U.S have free online searches at their web sites where you can lookup information about a corporation by company name or agent names. Just go to your favorite search engine like Google or MSN and type in the name of the state and corporations. Example “Arizona Corporations”, “Texas Corporations”, “Nevada Corporations”. The search engines will typically return the results your looking for within the first two organic search result listings. Once you get to the states web site you will need to find where on the web site you can lookup a Corporation. Usually it will just read “Look up Corporations”. Type in the name of the company and you can find out all corporate members, addresses, resident agents, corporate status- good standing- dissolved, revoked, etc. What I typically do is find out if the name the subject provided to me on the phone is indeed an actual member of the corporation, and then I run his or her name through the states database and see if he or she is involved in any other types of corporations. I find that is quite common to have members involved in several corporations.

    Sometimes you will not find a companies name in the specific states database. There could be a few reasons for this. The company may be a sole proprietor, or the company is registered in another state but has not filed as a foreign entity in the state they are doing business in. Sometimes companies operate this way. In this case it would be wise to search the Nevada and Delaware corporation web sites to determine if the company or agents are registered in either of those two states. There are a great number of corporations that register in Nevada and Delaware simply because of the asset protection. It’s difficult to pierce the corporate veil under the laws of those two states and that alone drives many, many companies to register in those particular states.

    I then run the companies name and agents name through online courthouse records in the specific county where they are residing in or conducting business in. Again like with the states, most counties have some type of information that is accessible online. Civil, family law and criminal filings are what you would most be interested in. You can go to the National Association of Counties by going to- http://www.naco.org and look up the county of your interest and you will go to their web site and see what kind of records that are accessible on-line for you to search. If you don’t know the name of the county, you can locate a County by just knowing the City and State by going to the U.S Census Bureau and searching their database located here: http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup?state=01000

    Or you can locate a County by Zip Code by searching this database by just entering a zip code http://www.usatrace.com/Search.html

    As soon as you locate the counties web site that you want to search just run the subjects name and company name through the various online databases. It can be very interesting to what you might find through courthouse records.

    You should also run the subjects name, company name, phone number, any addresses separately through Google- Using each category- Main Google, Google Groups, Google News. I typically run the above search criteria through Google to see what I can find and where it links to. You can also verify if any address is a mail drop (like Mail boxes Etc.) or if it is actually a street location by using a free database search located here: http://www.finaid.com/scholarships/maildropsearch.phtml

    Let me

    Event & Meeting Planners: Did You Know? Collaboration Is No Longer A Luxury, It Is A Necessity
    There is one powerful strategy all event and meeting planners use to reach the level of success they really dream about. It has nothing to do with event themes or locations, or your budget. It has nothing to do with your training in the industry. What I am talking about is much more powerful, and has the potential of positioning you as #1 in your industry and to generate business you never thought possible.Let me explain.When I first started my business, I felt very much alone. I had this feeling of pulling all the weight by myself, very limiting. As soon as I started collaborating with other people, I began feeling like nothing was impossible! I would come up with an idea, pitch it to one of my partners, and we would almost immediately turn it into a new revenue source. It took me a while to understand how to approach new partners, where to find them, and what to say to get a "yes."What I've learned is that collaboration is a very powerful business building strategy. Collaboration, when done right, makes everything easier. Everyone can collaborate. Collaborating is the "extra" in every extraordinary event and meeting industry profe
    ssified add through an on-line newspaper under real estate finance/services for hard money lending, private money lenders. I was really just trying to get a feel for the market in that specific area of the country. I do this by contacting various types of real estate professionals such Agents, brokers, title companies/escrow, private/hard money lenders, bird dogs, wholesalers, etc. When I call I get their personal name and the company name they work for (if any). If it’s a company its usually an LLC which is very common in the real estate industry or another type of corporate entity. A lot of times people talk fast or not very clear on the phone. So I always have them spell out their name and company name and have them provide me any additional contact numbers that they can provide should I need to speak with them at another time.

    When the subject I’m speaking to on the phone tells me the name of the company he or she represents and it is a corporate entity such as an LLC, S-Corp, partnership, etc. I know right away I can get the corporate members names within a few minutes. I will first go to the states web site in which the individual claims to conduct business in and lookup the entity online by the name of the company.

    Just about all the states in the U.S have free online searches at their web sites where you can lookup information about a corporation by company name or agent names. Just go to your favorite search engine like Google or MSN and type in the name of the state and corporations. Example “Arizona Corporations”, “Texas Corporations”, “Nevada Corporations”. The search engines will typically return the results your looking for within the first two organic search result listings. Once you get to the states web site you will need to find where on the web site you can lookup a Corporation. Usually it will just read “Look up Corporations”. Type in the name of the company and you can find out all corporate members, addresses, resident agents, corporate status- good standing- dissolved, revoked, etc. What I typically do is find out if the name the subject provided to me on the phone is indeed an actual member of the corporation, and then I run his or her name through the states database and see if he or she is involved in any other types of corporations. I find that is quite common to have members involved in several corporations.

    Sometimes you will not find a companies name in the specific states database. There could be a few reasons for this. The company may be a sole proprietor, or the company is registered in another state but has not filed as a foreign entity in the state they are doing business in. Sometimes companies operate this way. In this case it would be wise to search the Nevada and Delaware corporation web sites to determine if the company or agents are registered in either of those two states. There are a great number of corporations that register in Nevada and Delaware simply because of the asset protection. It’s difficult to pierce the corporate veil under the laws of those two states and that alone drives many, many companies to register in those particular states.

    I then run the companies name and agents name through online courthouse records in the specific county where they are residing in or conducting business in. Again like with the states, most counties have some type of information that is accessible online. Civil, family law and criminal filings are what you would most be interested in. You can go to the National Association of Counties by going to- http://www.naco.org and look up the county of your interest and you will go to their web site and see what kind of records that are accessible on-line for you to search. If you don’t know the name of the county, you can locate a County by just knowing the City and State by going to the U.S Census Bureau and searching their database located here: http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup?state=01000

    Or you can locate a County by Zip Code by searching this database by just entering a zip code http://www.usatrace.com/Search.html

    As soon as you locate the counties web site that you want to search just run the subjects name and company name through the various online databases. It can be very interesting to what you might find through courthouse records.

    You should also run the subjects name, company name, phone number, any addresses separately through Google- Using each category- Main Google, Google Groups, Google News. I typically run the above search criteria through Google to see what I can find and where it links to. You can also verify if any address is a mail drop (like Mail boxes Etc.) or if it is actually a street location by using a free database search located here: http://www.finaid.com/scholarships/maildropsearch.phtml

    Let me

    Start Your E-Zine Right - 5 Questions to Ask Yourself before You Begin
    Congratulations! You’ve decided to publish an ezine. But where do you begin? As with anything, at the beginning.Before you write your first word there are some decisions you need to make. Ask yourself these 5 questions:1.What is the topic of your ezine?This may seem like a silly question if you are far enough along in the process that you know you want to publish an ezine, but you would be surprised how many ezines are out there that seem to have no solid topic. They seem to be there for the sole purpose of taking up space in their subscriber’s email inbox, of which there are few.Don’t let this happen to you. It takes far too much work to publish an ezine to not have a specific topic of interest to the masses. And, yes, no matter what topic you decide to dedicate your ezine to, there are potentially hundreds or thousands of readers waiting to subscribe, if your topic is specific enough to capture their interest.So, decide on a topic that is specific enough to generate interest but broad enough to allow you to fill unlimited issues with valuable information.2.What is the purpose of your ezine?Although this
    nline by the name of the company.

    Just about all the states in the U.S have free online searches at their web sites where you can lookup information about a corporation by company name or agent names. Just go to your favorite search engine like Google or MSN and type in the name of the state and corporations. Example “Arizona Corporations”, “Texas Corporations”, “Nevada Corporations”. The search engines will typically return the results your looking for within the first two organic search result listings. Once you get to the states web site you will need to find where on the web site you can lookup a Corporation. Usually it will just read “Look up Corporations”. Type in the name of the company and you can find out all corporate members, addresses, resident agents, corporate status- good standing- dissolved, revoked, etc. What I typically do is find out if the name the subject provided to me on the phone is indeed an actual member of the corporation, and then I run his or her name through the states database and see if he or she is involved in any other types of corporations. I find that is quite common to have members involved in several corporations.

    Sometimes you will not find a companies name in the specific states database. There could be a few reasons for this. The company may be a sole proprietor, or the company is registered in another state but has not filed as a foreign entity in the state they are doing business in. Sometimes companies operate this way. In this case it would be wise to search the Nevada and Delaware corporation web sites to determine if the company or agents are registered in either of those two states. There are a great number of corporations that register in Nevada and Delaware simply because of the asset protection. It’s difficult to pierce the corporate veil under the laws of those two states and that alone drives many, many companies to register in those particular states.

    I then run the companies name and agents name through online courthouse records in the specific county where they are residing in or conducting business in. Again like with the states, most counties have some type of information that is accessible online. Civil, family law and criminal filings are what you would most be interested in. You can go to the National Association of Counties by going to- http://www.naco.org and look up the county of your interest and you will go to their web site and see what kind of records that are accessible on-line for you to search. If you don’t know the name of the county, you can locate a County by just knowing the City and State by going to the U.S Census Bureau and searching their database located here: http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup?state=01000

    Or you can locate a County by Zip Code by searching this database by just entering a zip code http://www.usatrace.com/Search.html

    As soon as you locate the counties web site that you want to search just run the subjects name and company name through the various online databases. It can be very interesting to what you might find through courthouse records.

    You should also run the subjects name, company name, phone number, any addresses separately through Google- Using each category- Main Google, Google Groups, Google News. I typically run the above search criteria through Google to see what I can find and where it links to. You can also verify if any address is a mail drop (like Mail boxes Etc.) or if it is actually a street location by using a free database search located here: http://www.finaid.com/scholarships/maildropsearch.phtml

    Let me

    Franchise Buyers and Integrity During the Sales Process of Buying a Franchise
    Most franchisees, about 60% of them, do not fully tell the truth during the application, candidate screening process or sales interview. Franchise Buyers need to concentrate on complete integrity during the sales process when purchasing a new franchise or buying out the rights and transferring an existing Franchise.For over a decade I ran a franchising company and was appalled and the number of lies I caught, in fact I got to the point to simply not trust anything anyone said during the buying and interview process. I'd have to say that a franchisee who misrepresents themselves ought to realize that that miss representation will adversely effect things like start-up cash flow, ability to manage, ROI, and operational costs associated with interest rates, equipment leases, and general operating credit for expansion.Now then would we sign a franchise agreement with a franchisee we knew lied to us? Same question. Why is it the franchisors fault always? Many disgruntled franchisees who have only given a half ass effort will say it is the franchisors fault, but why after they lied their way into the deal; because they do not like franchisors? Ha
    companies name in the specific states database. There could be a few reasons for this. The company may be a sole proprietor, or the company is registered in another state but has not filed as a foreign entity in the state they are doing business in. Sometimes companies operate this way. In this case it would be wise to search the Nevada and Delaware corporation web sites to determine if the company or agents are registered in either of those two states. There are a great number of corporations that register in Nevada and Delaware simply because of the asset protection. It’s difficult to pierce the corporate veil under the laws of those two states and that alone drives many, many companies to register in those particular states.

    I then run the companies name and agents name through online courthouse records in the specific county where they are residing in or conducting business in. Again like with the states, most counties have some type of information that is accessible online. Civil, family law and criminal filings are what you would most be interested in. You can go to the National Association of Counties by going to- http://www.naco.org and look up the county of your interest and you will go to their web site and see what kind of records that are accessible on-line for you to search. If you don’t know the name of the county, you can locate a County by just knowing the City and State by going to the U.S Census Bureau and searching their database located here: http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup?state=01000

    Or you can locate a County by Zip Code by searching this database by just entering a zip code http://www.usatrace.com/Search.html

    As soon as you locate the counties web site that you want to search just run the subjects name and company name through the various online databases. It can be very interesting to what you might find through courthouse records.

    You should also run the subjects name, company name, phone number, any addresses separately through Google- Using each category- Main Google, Google Groups, Google News. I typically run the above search criteria through Google to see what I can find and where it links to. You can also verify if any address is a mail drop (like Mail boxes Etc.) or if it is actually a street location by using a free database search located here: http://www.finaid.com/scholarships/maildropsearch.phtml

    Let me

    Live Chat Support and Non-profit Organizations
    Non-profit organizations have probably established web-presence to present the goals of the organization, to provide information about current and finished projects and probably attract more people to join you. These institutions can include educational facilities (schools, faculties, and research institutes), embassies, organizations supporting businesses or even government bodies.If you are a non-profit website owner, you must also have goals identified which you are trying to achieve through web-presence. For example: bloggers, independent journalists or experts in any field.In the both cases, when profit is not in question, it all comes down to achieving goals of common interest. It is important here to spread the word and get the opinion and support of as much people possible. Your website can only present yourself, your ideas and knowledge. It can also provide content from specific fields, tips and advice. But what is missing? - The feedback and cooperation from your website visitors?So, why not use your website as a touch-point and interaction with your co-thinkers?Why not share your ideas one-to-one in real time, with
    l go to their web site and see what kind of records that are accessible on-line for you to search. If you don’t know the name of the county, you can locate a County by just knowing the City and State by going to the U.S Census Bureau and searching their database located here: http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/qfd/lookup?state=01000

    Or you can locate a County by Zip Code by searching this database by just entering a zip code http://www.usatrace.com/Search.html

    As soon as you locate the counties web site that you want to search just run the subjects name and company name through the various online databases. It can be very interesting to what you might find through courthouse records.

    You should also run the subjects name, company name, phone number, any addresses separately through Google- Using each category- Main Google, Google Groups, Google News. I typically run the above search criteria through Google to see what I can find and where it links to. You can also verify if any address is a mail drop (like Mail boxes Etc.) or if it is actually a street location by using a free database search located here: http://www.finaid.com/scholarships/maildropsearch.phtml

    Let me give you a recent example of how my typical investigation starts.

    The individual that I recently contacted in regards to private money lending had provided me his name and company name when I asked, which is typical with any dealings on the phone. I already had his contact number from the add that he had placed on-line in the classifieds under “real estate finance/services”.

    I first ran the phone number to see if it was a cell number or a landline number. I do that by going to http://fonefinder.net I then ran his telephone number through Google to see if it appears online anywhere. I enter phone numbers in Google like this:- area code-prefix-phone number. Example- “111-555-1212” . Running this search gives me a good idea if the phone number he provided me has been used anywhere online. Sometimes I find a different name of the company other than what they provided, or I may find a web site where the phone number was used as a contact number, I may even find a personal add placed where the subject was trying to sell a classic car and the contact number matched that of which I already had. Or I can find out which forums the subject hangs out at, he may have used the phone number there. If I find a website where the contact number I entered into Google shows up, I find out who owns the web site by searching the whois directory located here- http://www.betterwhois.com I may find another name or indeed find out my subject owns this particular web site.

    I start developing my profile of the business and the subject themselves by initially starting with a simple phone number. I can find all kinds of interesting things by simply running a search through Google with the subjects contact telephone number.

    I then ran the company name that the subject had provided me by going online at the specific states website where I can look up and find out information about corporations. This will allow me to verify or reveal agents names. Sure enough he was a member of the corporation. However the last name he provided to me was spelled and pronounced much differently than what was revealed with the corporation search. It was way off.

    I then went to the respective county web site to search online for civil and criminal records on the subject. I knew which county to search based on the subjects phone number and also the zip code that was returned for the subjects address revealed in the corporation search through the states website.

    I found numerous civil filings on the subject regarding business dealings including an Exparte filed for a wire tap on the subjects phone number as well as family law cases involving domestic violence. I also found a criminal case-. Possession of marijuana

    Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make up ones mind if they would like to enter into a business relationship with this subject. There is a greater possibility that I might have issues with this individual and things may not work out so well in the future.

    There are many scenarios of why you would need to conduct due diligence on a individual or company. But remember you should always verify or reveal information on an individual or company prior to entering into a business relationship.

    Copyright 2005 Frank Bruno

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