Schumer targets rental car recalls

  By MICHAEL GORMLEY Association PressALBANY, N.Y. -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said he will introduce a bill to stop car rental agencies from renting automobiles that are under recalls for problems that aren't yet fixed.

The industry this month proposed a two-tiered system in which cars would be kept off the road if the recall involved serious safety issues. Recalls considered less serious would be fixed as soon as possible, but the cars wouldn't be "grounded" until then, under the proposal by the American Car Rental Association.

"Rental car agencies appear more interested in reaping profit by keeping recalled vehicles on the road then they do with ensuring the safety of the individuals and families who are driving their cars," Schumer said before his announcement Monday.

Schumer said the law is needed because of serious crashes in recent years involving rental cars under recalls. He said car rental agencies must be held to the same standard as automobile dealerships that don't lease cars for longer terms until a problem identified in a recall is fixed.

The American Car Rental Association said its two-tiered system would make sure unsafe cars aren't rented but also wouldn't keep cars off the road unnecessarily. The association said neither manufacturers nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives clear direction on which recalls pose a serious risk that must be fixed before a car can be operated.

"Currently all vehicle owners, including rental companies, must decide whether to continue to operate vehicles subject to a recall based on the information provided by the manufacturer and NHTSA in the recall notice," the association said on its website.

Schumer said all recalled vehicles should be off the road until they're fixed.

"The latest proposal by car rental companies to create a vague double-standard that defines some recalled cars as safe and others as dangerous allows these companies to shirk their responsibility to consumers' safety," Schumer said.

Schumer said a consumer who rents a car, unlike a private owner, won't be notified that the car is under recall.

An association spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment Sunday.

"We can't determine the significance of a recall and whether a vehicle is no longer safe to operate or whether it can continue to operate and then should simply be brought in for service at some point in time," the association's Bob Barton told The New York times in April in lobbying for a two-tier system.

"We simply want the manufacturers to instruct us when a vehicle needs to be grounded and we will absolutely comply," Barton said.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Politics & Elections »

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Lockheed attack highlights rise in cyber espionage

FILE - In this April 9, 2009 file photo, a sign outside the Lockheed Martin plant in Marietta, Ga. is shown. Lockheed Martin on Saturday, May 28, 2011 admitted it was the recent target of a "significant and tenacious" cyber attack, although the defense contractor and the Department of Homeland Security insist the hack was thwarted before any critical data was stolen. (AP Photo/John Amis, File)

  By CHIP CUTTER and LOLITA C. BALDORNEW YORK -- This cyber attack didn't go after people playing war games on their PlayStations. It targeted a company that helps the U.S. military do the real thing.

Lockheed Martin says it was the recent target of a "significant and tenacious" hack, although the defense contractor and the Department of Homeland Security insist the attack was thwarted before any critical data was stolen. The effort highlighted the fact that some hackers, including many working for foreign governments, set their sights on information far more devastating than credit card numbers.

Information security experts say a rash of cyber attacks this year - including a massive security breach at Sony Corp. last month that affected millions of PlayStation users - has emboldened hackers and made them more willing to pursue sensitive information.

"2011 has really lit up the boards in terms of data breaches," said Josh Shaul, chief technology officer at Application Security, a New York-based company that is one of the largest database security software makers. "The list of targets just grows and grows."

Lockheed Martin Corp. said in a statement Saturday that it detected the May 21 attack "almost immediately" and took countermeasures.

"Our systems remain secure; no customer, program or employee personal data has been compromised," the Bethesda, Md.-based company said. Neither Lockheed Martin nor federal agencies would reveal specifics of the attack, or its origins. Company spokeswoman Jennifer Whitlow declined to comment further on the case Sunday.

This isn't the first time Lockheed Martin has been targeted.

Nearly four years ago, officials revealed that hackers had breached Lockheed's Joint Strike Fighter program. Officials said no classified information about the military program was compromised, but heightened protections were added.

Analysts said the latest attack would likely spur rival defense contractors like Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon Co., General Dynamics Corp. and Boeing Co. to take additional steps to safeguard their systems.

"I guarantee you every major defense contractor is on double alert this weekend, watching what's going on and making sure they're not the next to fall victim," Shaul said.

Boeing declined to comment on the company's network security measures. Northrop Grumman spokesman Randy Belote said in an e-mailed statement that "we do not comment on whether or not Northrop Grumman is or has been a target for cyber intrusions," adding that the company "continuously monitors and proactively strengthens the security of our networks."

Over the past several years, the U.S. government has become more aggressive in its efforts to tackle cybercrime, developing strategies to beef up government computer systems, expand cooperation with other countries and improve coordination with the private sector. President Barack Obama declared cybersecurity a top priority shortly after taking office in 2009, setting off several government-wide reviews to develop strategies to better secure government, business and public online activity.

The Pentagon last May set up a new Cyber Command, based alongside the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Md., in recognition of the expanding threat against the Defense Department and the need to better coordinate the nation's offensive and defensive cyber operations. The Department of Homeland Security is also slowly employing an automated system - known as Einstein 2 and Einstein 3 - to protect government agencies' computer systems.

Still, the attacks have continued. William J. Lynn III, the deputy defense secretary, said in January that more than 100 foreign intelligence agencies have tried to breach U.S. defense computer networks, largely to steal military plans and weapons systems designs.

China is often pointed to as a source of cyber attacks because a large amount of malware, or malicious software, originates from there. The government denies it is involved but experts say the high skill level of some attacks suggests the Chinese military, a leader in cyberwarfare research, or other agencies might be stealing technology and trade secrets to help state companies.

Meanwhile, attacks against corporations have been growing this year. In March, RSA, the security division of data storage company EMC, acknowledged that its computer network was hacked. The implications are serious because RSA's technology underpins the security of some of the world's most closely guarded data. RSA makes small security devices that supply constantly changing numbers that are used as secondary passwords for accessing corporate networks and email.

Last month, more than 100 million online accounts were affected by the hacking of Sony's PlayStation Network gaming service and other online services.

Companies have gotten better at detecting attacks through so-called "intrusion software" that uncovers odd behavior on networks, said Alfred Huger, vice president of development at security firm Sourcefire. As recently as five years ago, Huger said, it was difficult for companies to even determine if they were being hacked.

Even with enhanced technology to fight cyber espionage, experts say it will continue and evolve.

Rich Mogull, analyst and CEO of Phoenix-based security research firm Securosis, noted that governments and defense agencies have been spying on each other throughout history. Computers have just made it easier to do so electronically.

"This is just what countries do," he said. "It's the unfortunate reality of how the world works."

---
Baldor reported from Washington.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more U.S. & World News »

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Debate for Business Plan Data and Early Franchise Disclosure

I have heard franchise attorneys say that prospective franchisees need the disclosure documents early on so they can make a business plan to see if the franchised outlet is feasible and I debated with them over this point of contention. Potential franchise buyers have also told me they wanted to put together a business plan for their evaluation process and therefore they need all the disclosure documents. They ask for these documents before they fill out the confidential questionnaire. We of course do not send out a UFOC without a completed questionnaire, which has been verified and we know the applicant meets our general approval and then check credit sources to see if they can actually afford it.

We have had potential buyers fill out the questionnaire and leave information out, because they did not feel comfortable with problems associated with identity theft and still want the documents. So that consumer puts us at a standstill. They want to put a business plan together to estimate the worthiness of the business, but need to know all the costs associated with it before they give us their information. Yet that information is readily available on most franchising web sites already. Of course we need to determine if they can even afford it (if they cannot we cannot spend the time on the sales process) or determine if they are one of the huge percentage of all inquiries that are competitors before we give away information contained in the UFOC. To top it off, we cannot assist them with earnings because we do not give earnings claims because we do not collect the data. This is because under the current rules we cannot substantiate or choose not to go to the expense to audit that data even though we know the answers after being in the industry for 27 years. They can call franchisees once they get the documents if they wish. But we cannot give them the disclosure documents pre-maturely. Now the FTC wants us to offer a UFOC because a potential buyer wants it or has asked for it and we have discussed our opportunity with them. The potential franchise applicant wants to make a business plan of our business model, that we do not wish to offer to them or even sell them at such early stages in the sales process?

A potential buyer wants to put together a business plan to get funding to buy a business for which he/she does not have the cash to buy. In order to get a loan, they will need a business plan. But any business plan they put together will be in contradiction to the absolute franchise business model that the franchisor will reveal after the actual purchase, we cannot reveal it sooner otherwise it will be copied and used against our team. I have heard FTC people say that they believe the potential buyer has a right to the information necessary to put together some close representation of a business plan of the franchise they wish to buy to determine if they should buy the business. Whereas this seems like a good idea on the surface the FTC has put into place rules making it impossible. They believe that this type of added disclosure sooner in the buying process will help. Yes it could, but a franchisor cannot provide the information unless first he can substantiate it and second unless the potential franchise buyer can prove he is a real buyer and can afford the franchise. We believe the answer to this concern lies on the back of the potential buyer to fill out a questionnaire truthfully and correctly and for the franchisor to verify data on that application before disseminating any additional information. At that point our company provides for the potential franchisee to go work with an actual franchise for one day and bring a calculator. We can provide a blank spreadsheet with typical expense categories on it but no numbers. The potential buyer in our franchise can visit a current franchisee and bring his/her calculator. And of course the disclosure documents will be provided once the proof of financial capability has been satisfied somewhere in the application process time frame.

It also appears from observation that no one really seems to understand the franchising model outside the actual industry practioners, attorneys in franchising and those who own franchises. The FTC certainly does not see the whole picture. I would invite Steve Toporoff and/or the entire FTC Franchise Group to go on a paid sabbatical and work in a franchisor's sales department sometime and listen to real franchise buyers ask questions, competitors trying to get information and the obnoxious looky lou's. The FTC should also send four or five of its highest-ranking franchise sector employees to do the same. I think if that were done you would begin to understand the ridiculous nature of enacting such a revised disclosure rule and you might ask yourself why we have a franchise rule in the first place.

But the FTC is not the only organization that does not understand franchising. I spoke at the SBDC's Annual Conference in San Diego, CA a few years back. In the workshop on franchising I had about 50 directors from around the country from the SBDC bombard me with questions after giving my talk. I was dumbfounded by the lack of understanding and knowledge on franchising. Almost to the point of frustration and wanting to walk out, I was shocked these were the directors of some of the largest SBDC offices in the country. I carefully worded my answers to make sure they had understood the issues presented to them. Finally we made some headway and many stayed afterwards to continue the conversation because they knew franchising was a major issue with their clients who come in for counseling usually prior to getting an SBA loan or putting together a business plan for a franchised business. I got to thinking about the 550 or so Directors and Executive Management of the SBDC Annual Conference that were in attendance and wondered why weren't all the participants in our workshop? Instead many had gone to time slot competing workshops as that is generally how such conferences are set up. But what could be more important than franchising which accounts for 1/3 of every consumer dollar in the country and a huge chuck of the small businesses in the US. What other business model can claim 350,000 outlets would the SBDC; "Small Business" Development Centers Deal with? After all franchising is the largest sector in small business, not to mention accounts for the most efficient small business models. Executives of the SBDC should have training in franchising as compulsory.

FTC should be helping all potential consumers of a franchise to understand what franchising is, but look at the information put out by the FTC, all they do is call to attention all the possible frauds and tell consumers to watch out, just look at their web site. You would think every franchisor is a crook. We all know crooks do not last long in franchising, it just costs too much to even get started, crooks are looking for easy kills with little work. You will find nothing of the sort in the franchising industry. I think the FTC's tact is a travesty, because some people will lose all their money if they start a small business, franchisors require structure and help people realize their American Dream. You would think that the FTC would applaud such efforts. Instead the FTC purports that the franchisors are fraudulent at every corner, bull! Fact is that the FTC is grandstanding and purporting their own importance to the consumer, offering hundreds of questions that potential buyers should ask of franchisors before purchasing and then making rules prohibiting the answers of the exact questions they recommend to ask through their own rules associated with disclosure. I cannot vouch for the current people of the franchise group but in the Clinton years it was certainly like this. I see a couple of familiar names still associated with the franchise division there, have things really changed? If so shouldn't we be able to tell from the FTC website. In case anyone has not yet got the picture, Franchising Mean Jobs. Jobs are good. Franchising is therefore good and we ought to make a note of it. With giant happy face right smack on the FTC site. Franchising Industry receives award !!! If you need a spokesman, no one believes that more than this kid right here.

The SBDC has hundreds of sample business plans on file to help potential small business owners develop business plans. But none are sample business plans for a franchise. I have in my personal business library, which travels with me ten books on how to write a business plan. None of them have a sample business plan for a franchise business. It is not taught in schools including the curriculum at the Entrepreneurial Studies at USC. I know because I talked with some professors there and then bought all the text books for the classes. Only one or two schools teach the compilation of a franchisee business plan in their entrepreneurial studies courses and then they simply mention it. This is in the whole country, why? Because it is not getting the juice for the most excellent business format and model it is. The FTC should led the field in this regard to alert the public to that fact. Our company has just devised a "fill in the blank business plan," which we may use to help qualified franchisee buyers. The franchise buyer can call up existing franchisees and decide what numbers should be put into the plan. These are what the franchise buyer really needs, but of course not until they are qualified.

The early disclosure debate for reasons of making a business plan of a possible franchised business does not hold water. Even once the potential buyer of a franchise has the UFOC there are no sample franchised business plans available in most franchise companies. In any franchise the potential buyer must fill out a form and prove financially capable before such information can be given out. In some registration states this would be considered advertising and be subject for review and once reviewed this would go into public record and therefore it cannot be used at all since it would be pre-signing of agreement. The franchisee does not need a disclosure documents prior to the qualifying, nor should a franchisor be required to give it out. If a franchise buyer makes a business plan or spread sheet for a possible future franchise it will surely be incorrect because the franchise buyer does not know the ins and outs of the franchised business yet. Therefore the franchise buyer maybe leading himself into a falsehood of how he believes the franchised business works and what his new franchised business and new lifestyle might entail. In other words he will be fraudulently inducing himself to buy something on bad information, if the franchise buyer were to show this to a franchisor, the franchisor is not allowed to comment for fear it might be construed as an earnings claim as you probably guessed.

We have had many recent potential buyers ask us for the UFOC so they could write a business plan before accurately filling out the application, or before we had a chance to verify what they filled out as being true and correct. This is not a good argument from the potential buyer, FTC or franchisee attorney. First you must qualify and be verified before we give out data for any purpose including writing a business plan for a franchised business. After all you could be a student doing a project and the business plan you write could appear in the next years text book for the publish or perish professor. It could end up on the Internet, which is what happened to one of ours that was written by a prospective franchisee in Little Rock, AR after a counselor of the SBDC felt was her duty thus disclosing proprietary information of our system to all. Thank god it was written by a prospective franchisee and was actually not correct entirely otherwise that would be copyright infringement, which we as franchisors claim on all proprietary information. It does a disservice to the hard work of many franchisees and the franchisor himself to give out such data or make it available to the public in anyway. It also invites competition to the franchisees thus inadvertently gives a competitive advantage to those consumer who have already purchased franchises trying to get a fair and reasonable ROI to feed families, buy soccer shoes and send kids to college. This is another reason why UFOCs and other information should not be allowed to pre-qualified individuals, the information they create as a business plan ends up all over the place. What if the potential buyer builds a business plan based on UFOC data and then starts their own business, deciding not to buy the franchise? The FTC would say that is their right and so it is, however my franchisees would be totally upset that I allowed data to help a future competitor of theirs into their market. I have a responsibility to that consumer too. He is a real consumer, he is a current franchisee and it is franchisors job to see that they are able to achieve up to their ability to follow the system.

Since a business plan is not necessary until you are sure you want a franchise and are qualified and accepted by the franchisor as a qualified franchise buyer, the business plan debate and justification for an early disclosure is invalid. There is sufficient competition in franchising and a potential franchise buyer, who on average I am told by FranchiseOpportunities.com, looks into 15 or more franchises before deciding which one is most suited to their lifestyle, needs for cash flow and amount of financial where with all available. So therefore we can see that until they narrow their selection, there is no need for them to have fifteen UFOCs to make fifteen business plans, which no one would ever do who was not a doctorial student of business, that is not even required for the IFA, Franchise Executive certification program. And alas the doctorial student would not be a real buyer anyway so no franchisor should be obligated to give them such information based on this business plan debate. Now if the potential franchise buyer had accurate and comparable information then of course this business plan point could be valid. Not actually a business plan as much as a "T" on apiece of legal paper of the pluses and minuses of each franchise being considered. A person not familiar with UFOCs like most all real franchise buyers would have a problem going through all the information trying to find the comparable data. And by then his coffee table next to the couch would buckle from the weight of 15 UFOCs when the house cat sat on it, just ask Robin Glen Day, franchise attorney and cat lover out of California. Check out her cat on her website, how cool is that, not bad for an attorney, google her name you can find the site?

The SBA is another organization that does not understand franchising. You may recall a few years ago the SBA contracted with FranNet to put all UFOCs on the Internet for streamlining SBA loans of their preferred lenders. First thing FranNet did was send a sales letter to all franchisors telling them they could now get other franchisor's and competitor's UFOCs for a fee. In addition they went through all the UFOCs submitted and did studies you could buy too. This illustrates my point regarding the competitive intelligence and proprietary information being given away due to the lack of understanding of the competition in franchising and different market sectors were the franchisors operate and compete. Obviously FranNet with their coup from the SBA contract would never offer such a service if it were not a desire of the competitive market place to get the information. Yes, I ordered my competitions documents and yes it helps me beat them in the market place. Yes it is unfair, but they are also doing it to me. No, we did not after that point bother dealing with the SBA or FranNet. And yes we turn away most applicants who answer our question of "where will you get the money to buy this franchise?" on our questionnaire; "from a small business or SBA loan." As soon as the franchise buyer submits the documents as part of the loan package there is a possibility of it becoming public record. The UFOCs contain so much information, such a P and L, Balance Sheet, experience, number of projected units, location of existing units, etc, etc that it is in essence the same or better than going through a competitor's office files or trash. This over disclosure promotes Machiavellian tendencies from competition and condemns the noblest of franchisors to spend to guard against it. We did a had a preferred SBA lender forward information about our franchise to a friend of his from the Rotary Club who was a strong competitor and owned a carwash in that region. The competitor then contacted us for more information about what we were doing.

Apparently the FTC, SBA, and SBDC do not understand the competitive nature of business in America and freely help competitors under the guise of helping consumers. Whether or not they realize it, I believe they must, as only an idiot would be so blind to the fact. Many times the competitor turns out to be the actual agency or organization. Franchisors must be careful to not give away proprietary information otherwise it is of detriment to their system and could hurt the very franchisees they have enlisted under their wings. These current franchisees and I cannot emphasize this enough are also consumers. They are real consumers, unlike those inquiries, which are un-financially qualified and/or competitors. Think about it.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

Senators demand probe of oil refiners' profits

Latest on Gas and Fuel Costs

  Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- New York Sen. Charles Schumer wants the government to investigate U.S. oil refiners' skyrocketing profits.

He says the companies are to blame for high gas prices.

Speaking Sunday at a gas station on Manhattan's West Side, the Democrat said that "something is rotten." He said refiners' profits have more than doubled since last year.

Meanwhile, the price of unleaded gas went up by almost 12 percent in the two weeks ending May 6.

In New York, the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.03.

In New Jersey it's $3.77.

In Connecticut it's $4.13.

The senator says he believes refiners are fixing prices by cutting back on stockpiles.

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, Schumer demanded an investigation into record profits by major refiners.

The letter is also signed by the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and three other Democratic senators.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Jobs seem to be out there in restaurant industry

NEW YORK (WABC) -- So you're looking for a job, or maybe someone you know is.

What if we told you there's work out there served right up on a silver platter.

Pressure and perfection in the kitchen, a far cry from what culinary student Emily Trexler was doing before at her office job.

"I was sitting in a cubicle miserable. I never saw the sun. I just couldn't sit still long enough to continue that way," she said.

But a career change in this weak job market is risky so Trexler tried to find odds in her favor.

"I looked on salary.com and some other websites to see what jobs are out there, but I worked in the restaurant business in the front of the house so I knew that there was always jobs available," adds Trexler.

So she signed up for L'academie De Cuisine, one of the top culinary schools in the country based in Maryland.

The food industry, is hiring according to bureau of labor statistics.

Food service jobs are one of the fastest growing segments in the job market, with more than 63,000 jobs added since the beginning of the year.

From being top chef, to waiting tables, the wages range, the average hourly rate in the food industry is $11.72 an hour.

But passion could pay off.

It did for Amy Miller who is working at a popular high end DC restaurant.

"Wow. I've really done it. Here I am, I love my job. In this economy it's a good thing to get paid and get paid for doing what you love," said Miller.

And in this demanding ever-changing job sector, here's one promise you can feast on.

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Eyewitness News First at 4:00 p.m »

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Coffee prices increase across the country

By Scott Curkin; Eyewitness NewsTARRYTOWN, New York (WABC) -- We all know that folks are paying a lot more to fuel up these days, not just for gas but for coffee too.

In fact coffee price increases have outpaced gas prices in the past year.

While fuel prices are expected to stabilize, coffee could continue to rise.

A batch of espresso blend coffee beans fresh out of the roaster piping hot and $2 more per pound than last year. At coffee labs in Tarrytown, they've had no choice but to pass along rising costs to their customers.

The jump in price of unroasted coffee beans known as green coffee isn't limited to specialty shops or exotic blends. Smucker the company that distributes Folgers and Dunkin Donuts brand coffee in supermarkets is raising what it charges retailers 11percent.

Reasons vary from speculators driving up costs to harsh winters limiting supply.

Experts say it's unlikely prices will drop anytime soon. But for many, coffee is as much a necessity as milk or bread.

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Eyewitness News First at 4:00 p.m »

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The 7 Major Reasons Businesses Fail and How to Overcome Them

This year, over 800,000 of the approximately 2,000,000 start

up businesses will fail!

Nearly 1,000,000 of those remaining will fail within 3 years.

Why do so many businesses fail? Many studies show that

approximately 98% of all failures occur because of the

owners. The other 2% are a result of acts of God. Here are

the key reasons and actions owners can take to avoid and

overcome business failure:

Reason #1: The owner is not mentally prepared or

motivated to run a business. There are three different ways

to use your energy, and your physical and mental efforts to

earn money. I call them the three "Games of Work.," and

they define the types of relationships between people and

their work. The rules that players have to follow to succeed

for each "Game" are shown below.

1. Bureaucrats,: Do what it takes to protect or expand their

position; Will divert responsibility whenever possible, but

will take credit for desirable results of others; The success

of the organization is secondary to kissing up to those who

make decisions about promotions, salaries and job

security; Have virtually no control over their job security; And

are compensated for basically showing up.

2. Partial Entrepreneurs: Choose to be responsible for work

performed or results achieved in their specialized field, but

do not want responsibility for the total business. Have more

control over their job and its security; And are paid for the

specific results they produce. Examples of Partial

Entrepreneurs include; commissioned salesmen, multilevel

marketing members, franchisees, and real estate agents.

3. Business Owners: Take full responsibility for their

business; Are in full control over their job and its security

(whether they know it or not); Have no one in the

organization to kiss up to; Learn to pass on as much credit

as possible; Constantly focus on the success of the

business; And are compensated only from the profits of the

business.

As you can see, the rules of a Bureaucrat and a Business

Owner are completely opposites in all categories, and the

Partial Entrepreneur is basically in the middle. The mental

effort it takes to convert from Bureaucrat or Partial

Entrepreneur to Business Owner is much greater than most

people realize. Many business owners never fully make the

transition.

Action: Before becoming a business owner in the first

place, determine if you truly want and will operate under the

Business Owner "Game Rules." If you choose to, do so

IMMEDIATELY, and COMPLETELY! To survive, let alone

succeed, you must commit to operate under the Business

Owner Rules 100%. Otherwise, you should seriously

consider playing one of the other "Games of Work" that best

suits your desires.

Reason #2: The business owner is unable to operate a

business. The success or failure of a business depends

on the owner. As the head goes, so goes the body.

Running a business is completely different than any other

"Game of Work," but, believe it or not, the rules are the same

for all types of businesses. Far too many owners fail to take

the time and energy to improve their own ability to run their

business. This means that they need to grow as a person

first and enrich themselves and discover their true passions

and priorities to be able to have the maturity, drive, and

energy to allow them to manage themselves and a

business simultaneously.

Action: You will greatly enhance your chances for success

by finding methods of self-improvement in all aspects of

running a business, and continue the process throughout

your entire business-ownership career. Obviously, as you

become better at running your business, the success of

your business will also get better. Many resources are

available to you, including respected advisors, mentors,

partners, "Godfathers, " and coaches.

Reason #3: The business owner thinks he knows what it

takes to run a successful business and is convinced he is

fully prepared to jump in. This is rarely true. The

fundamentals of owning and operating a business

sometimes referred to as the "rules of the game," are rarely

taught in the U.S. school system. (See Global

Entrepreneurship Monitor, published by Babson College

and Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, July,

1999.)

We are led to believe that an education fully prepares us for

running a business. In truth, the U.S. school system only

prepares us to get a job, not create jobs. The fundamentals

of successfully owning and operating a business are very

different from getting and keeping a job. Unfortunately, most

business owners are left to learn these fundamentals

through the age-old process of "Trial and Error" with an

emphasis on error. This "Trial and Error" dependence

causes far too many serious and fatal errors, and leads to

stress, financial damage, and eventual failure.

Action: Learn the rules of the game of business, other than

through the "Trial and Error" method. The very best way is to

find and use trusted mentors, advisors, and/or coaches to

guide you through the process of learning how to improve

your capability to run your business to avoid the many errors

others make. Frankly, the rules are simple, easy to learn,

and are based upon common sense, and high integrity

Reason #4: The business owner tries to execute all three of

the three basic functions needed for a business to succeed,

alone and without help. (See The E Myth Revisited by

Michael Gerber).

The three key functions a business must have executed to

succeed are:

The Technical function, which is the execution of the actual

service or product provided by the business. For example

the drafting action of a drafting company, the auto repair

actions of an auto repair company, the production of a boat

of a boat building company.

The Managerial function, which is the organization,

coordination, and supervision of the people assets and

activity of the business on a day to day basis.

The Visionary function, which is the discovery, setting and

communication of the future goals and purposes of the

entire business. The leadership to get all parts of the

business flowing towards the long term goals established.

The level of success of a business is limited to the level of

the execution of the weakest link of the three business

functions described. A business that has two of the

functions executed in an excellent manner and the other in a

poorly manner will eventually level out no higher than poor.

Yet, entrepreneurs (budding business owners) and

business owners try to personally perform all three

functions themselves. One single person will have an

extremely difficult time performing all three functions at a

high enough level for the business to eventually succeed.

Michael Jordan, one of the best basketball players of all

time, could not translate his huge basketball skills into a

successful baseball career. He proved that the skills

needed to succeed at the game of baseball are much

different from the skills needed to succeed at the game of

basketball. And when he returned to basketball, he had to

work extra hard to re-sharpen his basketball skills to his

previous levels. Likewise, the skills of owning and

operating a business are specific and very different than the

other two "Games of Work."

Action: Get help from someone, a partner, an employee or

an outsourcing resource to perform at least one of the two

functions for the business. This way that function can be

executed at a very high level and will allow you to focus on

executing no more than the other two at a similar high level.

Normally entrepreneurs initiate businesses where they

bring the technical skills and motivation to the table.

The three skills necessary to win in the business game are:

Technical Skills of the business; Managerial Skills to

manage yourself, time, things, concepts, and people; and

Visionary Skills to set future goals and organize the

business so that current activities will contribute to them

(See The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber).

You probably bring Technical Skills to the table, but to

succeed, you will also want to master the Managerial and

Visionary Skills. You are not born with these skills; you

learn them. You are born with natural talents towards

certain skills, but you have to work to perfect them. Michael

Jordan, and Tiger Woods were obviously born with

unbelievable talents, but they became successful only

because they worked very hard at developing the skills they

needed to win. Likewise, you will want to work to develop

your Management and Visionary Skills (from the Business

Owners Perspective) and continue the process throughout

your business ownership career.

Reason #5: The owner starts a business for the wrong

reason: "No one can boss me around;" Or; "I will create my

own job;" "If he/she can be successful, so can I;" "I will buy

a business and enjoy the fruits of ownership;" "I want to

pursue my passion for serving others." And so on. The

stresses and problems resulting from running a business

for the wrong reasons can become overwhelming,

especially when you generate little or no profits.

Action: "The only reason to have your own business is to

Make a Profit." Though this may sound cold and greedy, you

will realize rewards and compensation only from your

business profits. If your business doesn't make a profit, you

get nothing. You might even discover you have been

working for nothing, or worse, working to increase your debt.

This does not mean you have to avoid meaningful, and

emotional reasons for living. Not at all. The profits and

personal time gained from the business will provide you the

resources to pursue your life goals. Even religious

institutions require profits and time to pursue their passion

of serving others.

Reason #6: Business owners do not completely consider

the perspective and motivations of potential customers.

Customers' perspective must be addressed so owners can

entice enough customers to buy their products or services

at a price over their costs to produce the desired profits.

From the very beginning, owners should be focused on

enticing customers to buy. Owners who do not know,

understand, or appreciate their potential customers'

perspectives will most likely see their business fail.

Action: Learn as much as possible about your potential

customers. Design and provide products or services,

delivery methods, pricing, and ways to communicate with

them around their perspective. This might require that you

get help stepping out of your own perspective and into

someone else's.

Reason #7: Business owners insist on going it alone

without asking or accepting outside help. The sole

business owner has one of the loneliest positions in the

world. Many owners have difficulty confiding in their

employees, vendors, customers, lenders, or competitors,

for fear that any one of them will take advantage of revealed

weaknesses. Most owners try to go it alone by working IN

their business, and not near enough time working ON the

business. Consequently, they are not aware of what they

are doing, where they are going, or why! (the "Trial and

Error" method).

Action: Find and use Advisors, Mentors, Coaches, and/or

Trusted Partners who have the knowledge and desire to

educate and guide you, with your best interests at heart. All

professional athletes have one, if not several, coaches,

advisors, mentors, who help them become much more

successful than they ever could be on their own. Coaches

evaluate your ability to run your business. They will bring

you outside the stress, money, and time pressures you feel

from working IN the business, to help you make the

changes to result in improving your profits and reducing

your pressures. You will become much more successful

with advisors. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but

a sign of your desire to improve. Learning from the trials

and errors of others is an enjoyable and profitable

experience. Once you find the right advisors, you learn to

prevent and correct mistakes you might otherwise make.

Provided as an educational service by Bill Dueease of The Coach Connection, where ?connecting great people with great coaches? is their goal. You may receive a free copy of the article ?10 Insider Secrets Most Business Owners Never Learn? by contacting The Coach Connection at 800-887-7214 or 239-415-1777 or coaches@findyourcoach.com, or at http://www.findyourcoach.com/0o-business-coach.htm

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Study: NYC groceries cheaper than small cities

Tips on cutting costs at the grocery store (AP Photo)

  By Bill King, Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK (WABC) -- This may be tough to swallow, but a study by economists at Columbia University shows that groceries in New York City are actually cheaper than in other parts of the country.

The two economists compared identical products sold in cities big and small, both at high-end grocery stores and discount retailers.

In nearly every case, New York products were cheaper than in places such as Memphis, Indianapolis and Milwaukee.

But do New Yorkers agree?

"Hell no," 47-year-old mother of two Tina Smith told the Wall Street Journal. "There's inflation in New York."

One reason for the discrepancies, according to study authors Prof. David E. Weinstein and doctoral student Jessie Handbury, is that New York City offers a vast variety of choices, which they say throws off the average prices.

You can get bread in any grocery store, Weinstein told the newspaper, but "if you go into Fairway in New York, you can buy a Balthazar baguette" - and pay for it too.

Since cities like the Big Apple sell more varieties of products, the average price of those products appears higher. But using barcode data to compare the same products in smaller cities, the authors found metropolitan areas had cheaper prices. They say expensive foods in New York's high-end stores cost less than the same products in smaller cities, presumably because they are harder to find in those areas. Likewise, inexpensive foods at New York's low-end stores also cost less than their small-city equivalents.

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Family awarded $58M in malpractice suit

Web produced by Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness NewsCONNECTICUT (WABC) -- An 8-year-old boy and his family were awarded a huge medical malpractice award in a lawsuit, after a Connecticut jury determined his medical problems were preventable.

Daniel D'Attilo, 8, needs constant care. He cannot speak, eat or walk.

On Wednesday, a Connecticut jury awarded him and his parents $58 million in a medical malpractice case against the obstetrician who delivered him.

"He got his life taken away from him, and the only form of justice is this," said Dominic D'Attilo, Daniel's father.

The $58 million includes $8 million for Daniel's past and future medical bills, and $50 million for pain and suffering.

The D'Attilos and their lawyers argue that Cathy D'Attilo's doctor, Dr. Richard Viscarello and Maternal-Fetal Care, failed to deliver Daniel early, despite complications. They say when Daniel was finally delivered by C-section, the surgery was done improperly, cutting off the oxygen to Daniel's brain.

"The dollar amount means he will be taken care of, that's what this means to us," Cathy D'Attilo said.

Lawyers for the doctor have vowed to appeal the verdict.

They say Cathy received the proper care and that Daniel's disability is due to an infection that went undetected before birth.

The award is the largest in Connecticut state history.

Some doctors worry it will have a chilling effect on their colleagues, who may be less likely to take high-risk cases for fear of jury awards like this one.

"At a time when we're trying to get more access, this type of case is a problem, less doctors, more patients, it doesn't add up," said Dr. Kathleen LaVorgna, of the Connecticut State Medical Society.

Because of the appeals process, it will likely be years, if ever, before the D'Attilos see a penny of the $58 million.

Because of the mounting medical bills, their house is being foreclosed on, and they're just hoping they'll be able to stay there, where Daniel is comfortable.

---
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Business planning system

Every business, whether offline or online, needs a business plan for success. Decide where you want your business to be and determine how youre going to get there. Includes ebook, formatted Excel spreadsheet, worksheets and bonuses.

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My 7 Most Important Business Lessons

Millions of people start new small businesses in the United States every day. Many fail at running a small business every day. What causes one business owner to succeed where another fails? There are seven key areas to focus your efforts for a successful small business. It starts with knowing oneself and ends with not being afraid to ask for help.

1. Know Yourself

Having your own business is more than just creating a job for yourself. To be a successful small business owner, there are many personal sacrifices you will be required to make. You have to be willing to make them. By knowing yourself and what is truly important to you, you will be able to make these choices far easier than if you have never considered your priorities.

Your basic roles in a small business are in marketing, planning, finance, and administration. To get the best results, it is rare for one person to play all these roles equally well. You must know which parts you can handle yourself and which parts you're going to need help with. That's why it's so important to be objective and take a close look at your overall strengths and weaknesses. Ask yourself the following questions:

- Do you plan before you take action?

- Are you willing to hustle for the sale?

- How financially savvy are you?

- Do you have a well thought out plan? And, do you work the plan?

- Do you know how to make sales happen? Can you ask for the sale?

In those areas where you assess yourself as weak, you can ask for help.

2. Ask For Help When You Need It

When you're young and unseasoned, you tend to think you can do anything. This is a recipe for disaster for the small businessperson. If you insist on doing everything yourself, you will work 16 hours a day and not do some things well.

Remember, getting results is what counts! With outside advice and assistance, your quest for a successful business can be accomplished faster and with far fewer bruises than doing it yourself. When I started my first online business, I even created by own website. In retrospect, this was a big mistake. It took me far longer to create my site than having a more experienced person do it. Start equating every second of your time with money. Your time isn't free. While you are trying to do everything, what's falling through the crack?

Don't be too proud to ask for help, we all need help sometimes. With the Internet, the small business owner has a wealth of experience available to them. Why not take advantage of the many resources, paid and otherwise, available to you? Join a small business forum, like the Small Business Forum (www.smallbusinessbrief.com/forum/) where you can exchange knowledge with other small business owners. Access the millions of online articles on every business subject you can think of at EzineArticles.com.

Qualified sources are also available from your local government offices and other professional services. It is important to recognize -- what you don't know can end up costing you money and greatly reduce the chance of achieving your business goals.

With all that knowledge, you need a plan of action.

3. Action Planning

I like to call it "action planning" rather than "planning". Action is the only element which turns a plan into reality. Many people are great at planning but they suffer when it comes to follow-through. Successful small business owners are action oriented. But that action starts with a plan.

According to leading authorities, the main reason 80% of all new businesses fail within the first five years is not money, but the lack of planning. If you want to succeed, the trick is to know how to make right the decisions by implementing an effective business plan. Remember, if you fail to plan, you might as well plan to fail.

A business plan should include how you will finance the business, who will perform certain critical business functions, the license and permits required, accounting method, as well as what you know about your prospects and customers.

4. "Mind Meld" Your Customer

Just knowing your customer isn't enough for long-term success in your small business. In Star Trek, the Vulcan race had the ability to perform a mind meld. At the time of the mind meld, they could see, think, and feel everything their partner was seeing, thinking, and feeling. This is how close you must come to understanding your customer. The closer you get, the more successful you will become.

Are you listing to your customers? Make it your business to give your customers what they want and they will buy from you. They are the reason you are in business, and your future depends on them. The products and services you provide should be a direct reflection of their needs. Think in your customers' terms; buy, show, sell, and say things that interest them, not you. Don't forget, it is the customer that determines whether or not you succeed. They vote every day by where they spend their money.

Reflect on the following questions:

- Do you know the reasons why customers shop at your store? (service, convenience, price) If not, ask!

- Do you seek suggestions from your customers on ways you can boost business?

- Do you use a store or online questionnaire to aid you in determining your customers' needs?

- Do you stay in contact with customers on a regular basis?

- Do you ever try to re-establish a relationship with lost or inactive customers?

A key to success lies in knowing your customer. The other half of the equation is to know your industry.

5. Know Your Industry

You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you intimately understand your industry. You must know the ins and outs of your particular products and industry. You should know every competitor as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It's in your competitor's weaknesses where you will most frequently find your own success.

Your competitors size, services, location, marketing approach, type of customers, suppliers, and pricing strategies should be as well known to you as your own. Your local business climate, median household income, level of education, ethnic population, and the other demographics of your potential customers should be second nature to you. To prosper, you must know the game and the playing field intimately.

Many people focus upon these areas but still fail. Why? They focus more upon the product than the finances of the business.

6. Maintain Good Financial Records

If you don't know where your money is going, it will soon be gone. The "game of business" is played with products and customers, but the score is kept in dollars and cents. Good financial records are like the instrument panel on your car, they keep you posted of your speed, fuel level and engine condition. Without them you're flying blind trying to pace the other cars. If you know how much you're spending, buying and selling, you can take control and help your business make more money.

- Do you have basic accounting knowledge? Or, do you have someone you trust to keep the books?

- Do you maintain every receipt you obtain through the running of your business?

- Have you computerized your business to streamline everyday tasks and business procedures?

- Do you use sales forecasts, expense sheets, and financial statements on regular basis to assess the progress or your business?

- Do you evaluate your operating expenses and make necessary changes on a regular basis?

Many people erroneously believe good record keeping is for the government and those financial obligations. They are wrong! Good financial record keeping can help your business succeed. Use the financial information available to make improvements to the operation of the business and improve profits. Remember through it all, the old adage "cash is king" is true.

7. Manage Your Cash

It doesn't matter how unique your store is, your business can't survive without good cash flow. Cash is the lifeblood of your business. The money coming into or out of your store is the vital component that keeps your business financially healthy. For profitability, more cash must come into the business every day than goes out of the business. You can have the greatest sales in the world, but if it's all in receivables, how will you pay your bills?

A monthly Cash Flow Statement is a critical business tool. It shows the amount of money at the start of a period and how much cash was received during the period. It identifies the various sources of incoming cash and the reasons for outgoing cash. Budget wisely. Know the sources of your monthly income and expenses. Then, you won't have to worry about running out of money. And that is a good thing.

Like any game, the game of business has rules and tools. Those who excel at the game, play it better than their competitors. Keep focused upon these seven critical areas and you will succeed. Remember, Albert Einstein once defined "insanity" as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Isn't it time you changed the things you are doing so you can succeed? I think the time is now!

Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a ?Corporate Freedom Fighter? dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners to experience their own successful online business. She has over 30 years experience in the business world and over 12 years running her own successful online businesses. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (http://www.obinstitute.com), authors a sassy marketing blog (http://www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to ?Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time?.

Google tries to replace wallets with smartphones

North America First Data President Ed Labry speaks during a news conference, Thursday, May 26, 2011, in New York. Google wants the smartphone to be the wallet of the future, a container for digital credit cards, coupons, receipts and loyalty cards that can be "tapped" to terminals in stores. (AP Photo / AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

  By PETER SVENSSONNEW YORK -- Google Inc. is trying to nudge consumers and merchants into a world where the smartphone has replaced the wallet as the container for credit cards, coupons and receipts.

In Google's vision detailed Thursday, shoppers will touch their phone screen to select a card, then tap the phone to a credit-card reader in a store or restaurant. Google would make money by selling coupons and advertising that come along with the experience.

It's a goal shared by others. The Internet search and advertising company faces tough competition from cellphone companies, payment card issuer Visa Inc., eBay Inc.'s PayPal payment service and others. All of them want to play the central role of tying together phones, retailers and banks into a new payment system.

This isn't Google's first attempt at electronic payments. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., introduced an online payment service called "Checkout" five years ago. It hasn't posed a serious threat to PayPal.

Google views its digital wallet as a way to sell advertising at a pivotal moment: when shoppers are in stores, ready to spend money and even more receptive to coupons and other discount offers.

Nick Holland, an analyst at Yankee Group, said that although all parties stand to benefit from Google's system, Google itself has the most to gain. That's because the Google Wallet would allow the company to "own" the market for advertising that's tied to the user's location.

Google said it's launching a Google Wallet trial in San Francisco and New York in cooperation with Visa rival MasterCard and Citibank. It will open up the system to consumers later in the summer. It then plans to expand across the country.

There has been talk of smart payment systems for years, and Google faces the same hurdles that have stifled previous trials.

One is that Google Wallet will initially work on only one smartphone, the Google Nexus S 4G carried by Sprint Nextel Corp.

Several smartphone makers, including Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry, are ready to bring out more phones with chips for so-called Near-Field Communications, or NFC, but it's uncertain if they'll work with Google's system.

Another hurdle is getting retailers to invest in terminals that can talk to the phones. Google Wallet will connect only to MasterCard PayPass terminals. There are more than 135,000 of those in U.S. stores and restaurants, but that's only a small fraction of the total number.

Google's carrot is that retailers will be able to put loyalty cards and coupons in the Wallet, helping them track and engage with their customers. Partners in the trial include Macy's, RadioShack, Subway, Toys R Us, Duane Reade and Walgreens.

Yet another problem: Google needs to get cellphone companies on board. Its partner Sprint is the country's third-largest. AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA, the rest of the four biggest national carriers, have formed their own consortium to create a wallet that will compete with Google's.

The final obstacle is persuading consumers to take the leap.

Phones might one day offer slightly faster checkouts, but the benefit would be small. Google calls Wallet a "single-tap solution," but in a demonstration at Thursday at Google's New York office, a Google executive had to tap his phone twice to a terminal provided by retail partner American Eagle Outfitters Inc., then sign on the screen to get a purchase of a pair of denim shorts through.

Osama Bedier, Google's vice president of payments, said it was up to the retailer to decide if the shopper has to sign on the screen.

"Consumers and businesses don't have a compelling need for changes in payment methods," a recent study by the Federal Reserve said. It nevertheless concluded that there are substantial benefits to reap for everyone involved if mobile payments become a reality.

One of the potential benefits is increased security compared to cards with magnetic stripes, which can be copied surreptitiously.

The Wallet will initially work with a MasterCard from Citigroup Inc. and with a prepaid debit card issued by Google, but the intent is to let the wallet accept any card.

"This is about creating a compelling model and asking folks to join," Bedier said.

Banks and payment processors such as MasterCard and Visa like the idea of mobile payments, but have their own designs on the space. Visa already has announced plans for its own wallet.

MasterCard is collaborating with Google but is working on its own projects.

"Today's announcement is another early salvo in what will be a long and hard-fought battle to change consumers' payment behavior and, as a potential result, the makeup of the payments landscape," said Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Science & Technology »

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Jersey City teachers protest layoffs

  Mindy Bloom, Eyewitness NewsJERSEY CITY (WABC) -- Teachers in Jersey City took their protest straight to the board of education Wednesday night.

Teachers descended upon the Board of Education meeting to protest 200 proposed layoffs.

They say those layoffs would result in increased class sizes.

The head of the teacher's union said he understands if money has to be cut, but said that money should come from administration and non-essential programs.

---
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G-8: World banks to give $40B for Arab Spring

U.S. President Barack Obama, second left, and first lady Michelle Obama, left, pose for photographs with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, second right, and Prince Philip as they arrive at Buckingham Palace, in central London Tuesday May 24, 2011. (AP Photo / Toby Melville, pool)

  By JAMEY KEATENDEAUVILLE, France -- Officials say that rich countries and international lenders are aiming to provide $40 billion in funding for Arab countries trying to establish free democracies.

Tunisia's finance minister said leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations floated the figure at a summit in this French resort Friday.

A French official says $40 billion is the overall goal, but that breakdowns by country and timetables are still under discussion.

The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to his office policy.

The prime ministers of Tunisia and Egypt met Friday with President Barack Obama and other G-8 leaders and appealed for help after uprisings earlier this year that overthrew longtime autocrats but also scared away tourists and investors.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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6 of 13 small cars earn top marks in IIHS crash tests

  ARLINGTON, Va. (WABC) -- Proving you don't have to give up safety for good gas mileage, six of 13 small cars earned top scores in recent crash tests.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released the crash-test results on Thursday.

The six cars winning the Top Safety Pick award were the Ford Focus, Honda Civic 4-door, Hyundai Elantra, Lexus CT 200H, Nissan Juke and Toyota Prius.

None of the small cars earned a "poor" rating, a big turnaround from a few years ago.

CLICK HERE for the IIHS release on the crash tests.

(Copyright ©2011 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Report: Sales of foreclosed homes fell in 1Q

  By ALEX VEIGALOS ANGELES -- Sales of homes in some stage of foreclosure declined in the first three months of the year, but they still accounted for 28 percent of all home sales - a share nearly six times higher than what it would be in a healthy housing market.

Foreclosure sales, which include homes purchased after they received a notice of default or were repossessed by lenders, hit the highest share of overall sales in a year during the first quarter, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

"It's an astronomically high number," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "In a normal market, you're looking at the percentage of homes sold in foreclosure to be below 5 percent."

The pace at which homes are entering the foreclosure process has slowed in recent months amid bank and court delays. But distressed properties remain a fixture of a housing market still searching for a sustained recovery. The properties, often in need of repair, typically sell at a discount, weakening prices for other types of homes.

As a slice of all home purchases, foreclosure sales peaked two years ago at 37.4 percent. In the first quarter, they rose from 27 percent in prior quarter, but fell from 29 percent a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac.

Sales of foreclosure properties didn't fare much better than other types of homes, however.

In all, 158,434 homes in some stage of foreclosure were sold in the first quarter, down 16 percent from the last three months of 2010 and down 36 percent versus a year ago. Sales of all other types of homes also declined sharply, according to RealtyTrac's figures, which differ from other home-sales estimates.

While the number of bank-owned properties sold declined, they grew as a share of all home sales. Bank-owned homes accounted for nearly 19 percent of all sales, up from 17 percent in the fourth quarter and up from 18 percent a year ago, the firm said.

That's not good news for the housing market.

RealtyTrac estimates there are 872,000 homes that have been repossessed by lenders, but have yet to be sold. At the first-quarter's sales pace, it will take three years to clear the inventory of 1.9 million properties already in some stage of foreclosure.

For bank-owned properties alone, that amounts to a 2-year supply.

"Clearly, the housing market is not out of the woods," Sharga said.

Homebuyers who purchased a bank-owned home in the first quarter saved an average of 35 percent versus the average price of other types of homes, RealtyTrac said.

That discount is unchanged from the previous quarter, but up from an average of 33 percent a year ago.

Buyers who snapped up other homes in the foreclosure process, including short sales, got an average discount of 9 percent, the firm said. That's down from an average of 13 percent in the fourth quarter and an average of 14 percent a year ago. In a short sale, the seller and their lender agree to sell the home for less than what is owned on the mortgage.

The biggest foreclosure discounts were to be had in Ohio, where foreclosure properties sold for an average of 41 percent less than other types of homes, RealtyTrac said.

The average sales price of a foreclosure property was $168,321, down 1.9 percent from the fourth quarter and 1.5 percent from the first quarter last year, the firm said.

At a state level, Nevada led the nation with foreclosure sales accounting for 53 percent of all home sales, RealtyTrac said. That was down from 59 percent the year before.

The state has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation and an inventory of nearly 28,000 bank-owned properties on bank's books.

Buyers scooping up foreclosure properties there in the first quarter got an average discount of nearly 18 percent compared to the average sales price of other types of homes, RealtyTrac said.

In California, foreclosure sales accounted for 45 percent of all home sales in the first quarter, down from nearly 48 percent a year earlier. The average foreclosure property sold for nearly 34 percent less than the average sales price of homes not in foreclosure.

In Arizona, foreclosure sales represented 45 percent of all home sales for the quarter, down from 47 percent a year earlier.

Several other states had foreclosure sales that accounted for at least one quarter of all home sales in the first quarter: Idaho, Florida, Michigan, Oregon, Virginia, Colorado, Illinois, Georgia and Ohio.

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Secured Business Loans - Equipping Your Business Blueprint With Concrete Groundwork

Somebody once said, 'Business is not financial science; it's about trading, buying and selling. It's about creating a product or service so good that people will pay for it.' So you are full of ideas and ready to take on the world. No matter how striking your business idea is, it still needs a solid foundation to work on. Without a concrete financial plan your business plan might not be as feasible as it might seem on the pages, realistically speaking. Secured business loans give you the opportunity that you need to be financially independent. Being a homeowner will provide you with more to bank upon than you realize. A business loan by keeping your home as a warranty is the just the right way to get started.

Getting a secured business loan is a guaranteed success, if you take care to do your homework. For Acquiring secured business loans a lot depends on the loan claimant. You have to be very clear about how much money you need, why you need it and you must have a repayment plan. You should be able to convince your loan lender that you are very clear about your business and financial needs. This will go in your favour in assuring the loan lender that you are a good credit risk. There is no doubt that there is a huge market for secured business loans but there are no takers for secured business loans applications whose amortization is not secure.

Whether you are buying a business, paying off previous debts, looking for a cheaper rate of interest, expanding your business or starting a new business, business secured loans are the ideal for your plans. A secured business loan is secured over your property. If you own a property in UK then why not make use of this dormant property in your own home. Secured business loans are straightforward, undemanding and fairly simple. The loan amount can range from anywhere between £ 50,000 and £ 1,000,000. You can choose to repay in any term that befits your financial terms. Repayment time period can be from 3 years to 25 years. However, as a homeowner you must be aware that non payment of your secured business loans will lead to annexation of your consequential property or home.

Are you getting started on applying for secured business loans? Then pay a little more attention. A well written secured business loans application must include some occasional imperative information. The secured business loans application must have business name, name of principals, social security number for each principal and address. Make sure that the secured business loans application includes the objective of taking the business loan. The loan applicant must know how he will utilize the business loan. The amount required must be precise. Give an account of your business on your secured business loans request. This includes the history and nature of your business, its age number of employees and also the existing business possessions. Work with relevant agencies to present a complete picture of your business. Your secured business loans application won't be complete without some details of your principals in your business including their education, background, skills and accomplishments. For securing a secured business loan, you must give the financial statements for the past three years. If you are launching a new business, then give projected balance sheets and income proofs.

Your ability to make repayments on secured business loans is the most emphatic point in getting your application accepted. Security agreements on a secured business loan will include the description of the collateral, the identification of the collateral. The business loans agreement will also include provision regarding the preservation of collateral and the right of the secured party's to inspect the collateral. You must understand that in the case of default, the loan lender will look towards the collateral to satisfy the obligation.

Secured business loans are offered at highly economical rates at all leading commercial loan lenders. As it is with a secured loan, the interest rates are low and loan stipulations are flexible. A business loan can be secured at all kinds of business property in UK and also on commercial and residential properties. Secured business loans can offer upto 79% of loans to valuation or LTV. The secured business loans are available with both variable rates and fixed rates options. Secured business loans are accessible at freehold and long leasehold property. Bricks and mortar evaluation generally required to be conducted.

Secured business loans are the sustenance of any kind of business. It is important to discern that getting a secured business loan is in no way like a walk in the park. You will have to go through a lot of paperwork than you assume. But the paperwork will be basically of investigative nature. However, if you understand the market you are getting into, there is no doubt your success in acquiring a secured business loan will be secured. Comprehend your strengths and your weaknesses and try to abate your weaknesses and optimize your strength. You know the golden rule is - Before you start setting your financial goals, you need to understand where you stand financially. Decipher the rule and if you have a viable project, with a secured business loan there will be no looking back.

Amanda Thompson holds a Bachelor?s degree in Commerce from CPIT and has completed her master?s in Business Administration from IGNOU. She is as cautious about her finances as any person reading this is. She is working as financial consultant for http://www.chanceforloans.co.uk. To find a Personal Loans, Bad Credit Loans,Debt Consolidation at cheap rates that best suits your needs visit http://www.chanceforloans.co.uk

Last call at famed Elaine's Thursday night

  By KAREN MATTHEWSNEW YORK -- Everyone went to Elaine's - and now they'll have nowhere to go.

For regulars still mourning the death of Elaine Kaufman in December, the news that her namesake restaurant in Manhattan will close on Thursday has been a double blow. They planned to gather one last time at the place where they ate so-so food while rubbing shoulders with the likes of Michael Caine and Woody Allen. And then they will be cast adrift.

"I don't know what many of us will do," said TV broadcaster Rikki Klieman, who was introduced to Elaine's by her husband, Bill Bratton, a former New York City police commissioner and Los Angeles police chief. "I guess we'll just have to stay home."

Elaine's was synonymous with plugged-in New York for the better part of five decades. "And they were all impressed with your Halston dress and the people that you knew at Elaine's," Billy Joel sang. The restaurant inspired books titled "Everyone Comes to Elaine's" and "Last Call at Elaine's."

For the regulars, Elaine's was more than a scene. It was a family, a club without dues, a dinner party with a glittering guest list.

"It was so comfortable for us because we were on the inside," said Kathryn Altman, who started going to Elaine's in the 1970s when her late husband, film director Robert Altman, was riding high after "M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H." "It was like a club."

The club was not limited to boldface names. Dana Carey, who is director of event sponsorships for a trade publication, started going to Elaine's as a young woman nearly 30 years ago.

"I knew that every Thursday I could walk in as a single person and I would know about a third to half the restaurant," Carey said. "And everybody was always, `Come sit with us, come sit with us.' There was no other place like it, where you would see an actor, a writer, a neurosurgeon and a former Mets baseball star, all sitting together, and the only common denominator was that they were an Elaine's regular."

Kaufman died at 81 after running Elaine's for 48 years. Longtime manager Diane Becker inherited the restaurant and tried to keep it open before announcing May 17 that it would close for good on Thursday.

"This is one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make," Becker said in a statement. "But the truth is, There is no Elaine's without Elaine."

The regulars said Kaufman's uncanny ability to introduce guests to the fellow guest they would most want to meet made it difficult to imagine the restaurant without her.

"If you were sitting alone, she would introduce you to somebody interesting," said Harry Benson, a Scotland-born photographer who arrived in America with the Beatles in 1964 and is currently shooting for Vanity Fair. "A detective who was working on the Son of Sam case. She never put you with some dreary person."

The food was not the selling point.

Allen, who shot the first scene of "Manhattan" at Elaine's, said through a spokeswoman that he was not available for an interview. But he told New York magazine at a screening of his latest movie "Midnight in Paris" that he went to Elaine's every night for decades "despite the unrelenting bad food." He added that "everybody went for conversation and meeting people and chatting, and that was the success of the place."

The dDecor was indifferent as well. The dark-paneled walls at Elaine's were festooned with the framed covers of books by authors who ate and drank there.

Celebrities like Allen knew that Elaine's was one place where no one would bother them. And there were plenty of celebrities.

"Catherine Deneuve used to go there when she was in town," Benson said. "Willie Nelson. Clint Eastwood. A lot of unlikely people."

Carey said she met her best friend, mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark, at Elaine's. She also met mystery writer Stuart Woods, whose protagonist is always having dinner at Elaine's.

Ruda Dauphin, the U.S. representative of France's Deauville American Film Festival, said she brought people by to show them off to Kaufman and to show Kaufman off to them.

"I brought in Buzz Aldrin," she said. "From the moon to Elaine's. He loved it."

Klieman said that Kaufman would tell her, "I think you might want to stay tonight" when she was expecting a Jack Nicholson or a James Gandolfini.

Her husband, Bratton, said the clientele spanned the range of New York life from writers and actors to the occasional mobster.

"The cast of characters could best be described as sort of a Damon Runyon crew," he said.

Many of the regulars have been returning to Elaine's every night since the closing was announced and planned to be there Thursday.

"Everybody changed their plans in order to be there," Klieman said.

They will exchange numbers and make plans to keep in touch, but it won't be the same.

"Everybody will eventually find a new place to go but we won't all find a new place together," Carey said. "We'll all gravitate to different places."

There may be speeches. There will surely be tears.

"It's like losing Elaine twice: first herself, then the living room where she conducted her nightly salon," Woods, the mystery writer, said in an email. "It was a club where the public were allowed to pay to watch the members dine, and the members liked that."

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more New York News »

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Gas tanks are draining family budgets

  By JONATHAN FAHEYNEW YORK -- There's less money this summer for hotel rooms, surfboards and bathing suits. It's all going into the gas tank.

High prices at the pump are putting a squeeze on the family budget as the traditional summer driving season begins. For every $10 the typical household earns before taxes, almost a full dollar now goes toward gas, a 40 percent bigger bite than normal.

Households spent an average of $369 on gas last month. In April 2009, they spent just $201. Families now spend more filling up than they spend on cars, clothes or recreation. Last year, they spent less on gasoline than each of those things.

Jeffrey Wayman of Cape Charles, Va., spent Friday riding his motorcycle to North Carolina's Outer Banks, a day trip with his wife. They decided to eat snacks in a gas station parking lot rather than buy lunch because rising fuel prices have eaten so much into their budget over the past year that they can't ride as frequently as they would like.

"We used to do it a lot more, but not as much now," he said. "You have to cut back when you have a $480 gas bill a month."

Alex Martinez, a senior at Arcadia High School outside Los Angeles, said his family's trips to San Francisco, which they usually take once or more a year, are on hold. As he stopped at a gas station to put $5 of fuel in his car - not much more than a gallon - he said the high prices are crimping social life for him and his friends.

"We're always worrying, `How are we going to get home. We've got less than half a gallon left,"' Martinez said. "We definitely can't go out as much, and we can't go as far."

As Memorial Day weekend opens, the nationwide average for a gallon of unleaded is $3.81. Though prices have drifted lower in recent days, analysts expect average price for 2011 to come in higher than the previous record, $3.25 in 2008. A year ago, gas cost $2.76.

The squeeze is happening at a time when most people aren't getting raises, even as the economy recovers.

"These increases are not something consumers can shrug off," says James Hamilton, an economics professor at the University of California, San Diego, who studies gas prices. "It's a key part of the family budget."

The ramifications are far-reaching for an economy still struggling to gain momentum two years into a recovery. Economists say the gas squeeze makes people feel poorer than they actually are.

They're showing it by limiting spending far beyond the gas station. Wal-Mart recently blamed high gas prices for an eighth straight quarter of lower sales in the U.S. Target said gas prices were hurting sales of clothes.

Every 50-cent jump in the cost of gasoline takes $70 billion out of the U.S. economy over the course of a year, Hamilton says. That's about one half of one percent of gross domestic product.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that consumer spending rose just 0.1 percent in April, excluding the extra money spent on more expensive gas and food, while wages stayed flat for the second straight month.

Mike Nason, a marketing consultant from Laguna Niguel, Calif., says he's clipping coupons to save money for gas and cutting back wherever else he can. His daughter Chandler, 17, recently settled for a prom dress that cost $170 instead of asking her parents to spend $400 for another that caught her eye.

"In prior years we would have spent more money on the dress, but money has become a big object," he says.

The tourism industry is bracing for an uncertain summer. AAA predicts the typical family will spend $692 on its vacation, down 14 percent from $809 last year. Many of those surveyed said they are planning shorter trips and expect to pinch pennies when they arrive.

AAA estimates 34.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home this weekend, an increase of about 100,000 from last year. But they will have to do more complicated math to make the summer budget work.

The median household income in the U.S. before taxes is just below $50,000, or about $4,150 per month. The $369 that families spent last month on gas represented 8.9 percent of monthly household income, according to an analysis by Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at Oil Price Information Service. Since 2000, the average is about 5.7 percent. For the year, the figure is 7.9 percent.

Only twice before have Americans spent this much of their income on gas. In 1981, after the last oil crisis, Americans spent 8.8 percent of household income on gas. In July 2008, when oil price spiked, they spent 10.2 percent.

Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, have risen just 1.9 percent in the past year. That's only just enough to keep up with inflation.

The good news is that analysts expect gas to fall to $3.50 a gallon in the coming weeks. In order for household gasoline expenses to return to their historical place in the family budget for the year, gas prices would have to fall by about half and stay that way for the rest of the year.

Demand for gasoline has fallen for eight straight weeks as drivers try to cut back, but higher prices can't keep drivers parked for long. Even with high prices this year, the government expects gasoline demand to grow slightly for the year.

"Drivers try to do what they can, but they have to go almost all the places they go," says David Greene, a researcher at the Center of Transportation Analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and manager of the Department of Energy website fueleconomy.gov. "There's no magic gizmo that will drastically change someone's gasoline use."

Mike Siroub clutched his heart as he described the experience of filling up lately. He owns a Union Oil gas station in Arcadia, Calif., but one of his cars is also a 1975 Oldsmobile.

"Think about it," he said. "If you've got a car with a 30-gallon tank and gas is $4 a gallon and you fill it up, you're out $120."

He says high gas prices will keep him home this weekend. And he runs a gas station for a living. As he greeted a steady stream of customers at his station, he laughed and said, "I have to pay for gas just like everyone else."

---
Associated Press writers John Rogers in Los Angeles and Brock Vergakis in Norfolk, Va., contributed to this story.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Get more ABC7 Traffic Center »

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