POVLITZ Inc | Business and Entrepreneur

Almost all business experts would agree that – even though the economy is still very bleak with not much but hopes and prayers for a real recovery in sight – now is actually an extremely good time to be considering opening a business. I completely agree that opportunities abound. True entrepreneurs manage to see that ‘silver lining’ in everything, and many of my close friends and associates just don’t buy into the doom and gloom of the recession.

In a deflated economy, such as this, the benefits to starting a business are obvious to most, but I’ll highlight just a few good reasons here:

There are more qualified job seekers in the market More competition for good jobs means more room for salary maneuverability. A surplus of vacant commercial property means cheaper rent Things are generally cheaper as more companies are competing for your business Supplier may offer better deals also Remember, it ‘s a buyer’s market out there, if you’re spending, you CAN negotiate A LOT…!

So, with timing being right for opening a business, we are still faced with the same challenge: which business is best for me?

Right now there are obvious ones to avoid – those in the deflated areas probably are not a good choice right now, unless you are heavily capitalized to weather a long storm, pick up the business for a ‘steal’, or you’re just plain lucky! So, given that you’ve whittled out the “mine field” industry sectors, you have the necessary investment capital needed, why not compare them to the advantages of the Merchants Barter Exchange (MBE) licensing program.

Obviously, since I own locations, not only do I speak from experience, but I’m also a little biased. I’ll try to be as objective as possible, and at the end of the day, you have a personal decision to make, it’s your time, money and effort that you are investing, and my opinion won’t sway you off your entrepreneurial destiny.

IT’S CHEAP:

With a license for MBE starting around $75,000, comparing this to the majority of franchises, with many hidden or extra costs involved, including franchise fees, stock, supplies, and premises, that can total up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, this opportunity is vastly less expensive to start.

FAST RETURN ON INVESTMENT:

Many franchises out there can take 3 – 5 years just to break even and have some horrendous royalties and other running expenses. The MBE opportunity on the other hand has a very rapid return on investment – revenues come in almost from day one. Once trained, a licensee and their sales force can bring in business immediately.

FAST START:

Building on the last point, because so much of the functionality of MBE is centralized at a corporate level, all that is necessary to get started is to schedule a convenient time and location to begin the training process and voila! All the marketing materials are supplied and the MBE trainers work directly with the new licensee and sales trainees to get them productively selling. A new owner could – theoretically, if it could be scheduled – launch a new area within one month of signing contracts. Compare this short lead time to having to scout for premises, source permits, refurbish or outfit a store, etc., that may be required with a franchise opportunity.

EASY TO SELL:

Two major points here, 1) Barter is all over the news right now and is probably as topical as Obama’s healthcare initiative, and 2) Your potential clients are all around you. With little to no competition to what MBE offers, and the recession causing almost perfect market conditions, a one armed, blind monkey could sell memberships in MBE (and I’m being very flippant here!)

GREAT SUPPORT:

A complaint I hear from many franchise owners is the total lack of support from the franchisor, especially now that times are very tight and very competitive. That problem doesn’t exist with MBE. Since it is in the corporation’s best interest to make each area successful (since that is the major way they make ongoing revenues) every best effort is made to motivate and support each licensee. What’s more, MBE doesn’t ask for any royalties to be sent “up line” to cover marketing campaigns or other advertising expenses. On the contrary, even though they pay for all the brokers to do all the centralized trading of bartered deals, they share 50% of all trade commission proceeds with each licensee.

RESIDUAL REVENUES:

As partly alluded to above, unlike many franchises available where sales continually have to be made, the MBE system favors ongoing, regular trades that are conducted each month by members. Once a client is signed up, MBE corporate gets them trading on a continual basis, so a licensee isn’t constantly having to add more and more new members to replace older ones that have left. In fact, one of the reasons for MBE’s continued growth and success is their incredibly low attrition rate (under 5%)

As if all those were not great reasons to drop your check for $75,000 and shout, “Where do I sign?” It would be wrong of me not to mention the MBE-lifestyle that comes with the turf. Imagine, not only do you own and run a very successful, profitable, and exciting business, you also get to shop in the economy you help build. No more paying for those nice, expensive dinners… vacation around the world on barter… have your garden manicured and landscaped on barter… oh, keep on dreaming… It is an MBE-reality.

Nah, on second thoughts, you’re right, go open that carpet cleaning company or sandwich bar, you’d hate the barter lifestyle!