Decisions

When choosing a franchise in the automotive franchise industry there is a particular need for research into your target area. With the automotive franchise industry being such a popular choice and with so many standalone automotive based businesses, you do not want to be setting your new business up in an already saturated market.

Looking at every town, city and even rural area in the country and you will see garages, petrol stations, car washes etc. They are everywhere and in abundance so ensuring that you are choosing the right industry sub sector with a good population density compared with the current automotive businesses in that area is paramount to your success.

So you first step is with identifying your territory and gaining some demographics. Find out the population of your territory, how many households with cars and motorcycles and from local directories you can find out exactly what automotive businesses are already in your area and how many of them. With this in hand you can then begin the selection process.

If for example there are 5 petrol stations, 7 garages, 3 exhaust, tyre and brake service stations and 1 car wash then perhaps a car wash franchise would be the one to look into. As with all franchises location is very important also, a car wash franchise which is not visible and is inaccessible can fail fast however one located on a major through road or next to a supermarket can do very well indeed.

On doing your research and drawing up a short list of franchises which are not only viable but of interest to you too, the next step is to contact the franchisors and begin the selection process. Do not be drawn in by all the glossy packs they give you but instead take a reserved and measured approach to each.

Ask for a list of current franchisees and phone each one to ask how well they are performing, what the franchise management is like to deal with and if all the promises made in the promotional materials were at least close to being realised. By doing all this you can start to weed out the good from the bad and you are a step closer to ensuring you are making the right choice and spending your money wisely.

There is also a matter of franchisee churn / turnover to look into. what franchisee churn is, is the amount of franchisees who have exited the franchise system. A high franchisee churn shows un unhappy and unprofitable franchisee base and should set some noisy alarm bells ringing. If they are leaving in their drives then I suggest you look elsewhere and discard immediately.

With the right research in hand you can make the right choice and automotive franchises are extremely popular and profitable. Do not make the mistake that many people do though and enter a saturated market as this will only lead to disaster and end up with you in debt or severely out of pocket.

About the Author:
Matthew Anderson is the Head of Advertising for the online franchise portal, http://www.the-franchise-shop.com/categories/Automotive-franchise_128.html The franchise shop is the UK’s largest portal of franchises for sale and franchise information. http://www.the-franchise-shop.com

Keyword tags: automotive franchise,uk franchises

Joe Rancier began his home business the way many people do; with a good idea and a small, designated work space in his office. Joe had an idea to use Autocad, an architectural program, to design custom glassware for both art and practical purposes. Joe, an amateur glassblower himself, planned to contract out custom glass designs to a small network of highly talented glass workers. The workers would carry out Joe’s designs, take their profit cut, and then ship the finished product back to Joe where he could in turn deliver it to the client.

Jewel Cut Glass Design was incorporated in February of 2002. Business was slow at first. Joe and his wife Marnie worked the phones for sometimes ten hours a day, trying to find prospective clients for his business. They approached everybody from local houseware boutiques to pre-existing business contacts, and even national department store chains. The first two years were brutally slow. But after a time, a few small retailers liked Joe’s glassware designs and believed in him enough to order a few sugar bowl and decanter designs. The third year saw Jewel Cut take in $9300 in accounts receivable. The resulting profits weren’t nearly enough for the couple to quit their full time jobs, but from this modest success Joe and Marnie became convinced that they could succeed.

Jewel Cut Glass Design’s big break came when they attracted the interest of Chimera Interiors, a large Pennsylvania based houseware chain. Chimera wanted to contract Jewel Cut for two different lines of glassware gift sets as well as a small table top design. The entire contract was valued at almost four hundred thousand dollars. Joe and Marie gleefully jumped at the opportunity and began production of the pieces even before the contract was signed. One evening, the husband and wife team were out celebrating their business breakthrough when the call came in. The news was bad. The legal department at Chimera Interiors deemed the work order could not be honored due to the face that Joe and Marnie did not have a merchant number. In order to contract business with Jewel Cut Glass, the company needed to have a merchant number and be able to accept electronic payments. Joe and Marnie could not honor this requirement and lost the contract. It was a horrible blow not only to their business, but to their morale as well.

Joe researched the issue and learned that many large companies have similar requirements. Joe quickly signed up with Electronic Payment Services, a credit card processing outfit that enabled Joe’s business to be paid with one convenient swipe of a credit card. The following year Joe rekindled his relationship with Chimera Interiors and won a small contract . That same year Jewel Cut also secured a deal with Mordecai Holdings; a Canadian houseware company. Mordecai had the same rule as Chimera; they could only work with vendors that had a merchant number. But now, Jewel Cut was prepared. Jewel Cut’s accounts receivable went from $9300 in 2005, to $120,000 in 2007. That’s a profit growth of over 1200 percent.

Joe and Marnie not only viewed their switch to electronic payment processing as a big success, but they also recommended that all their small suppliers convert to credit card processing as well. Six months later, all of Jewel Cuts contributing artisans had converted to electronic payment processing. The result was a smoother workflow that left an electronic paper trail for easy accounting and record keeping, as well as less time and energy spent going to and from a bank, worrying about writing and cashing checks.

Credit card processing was the critical element that enabled Joe and Marnie Rancier’s Jewel Cut Glass Design to get well on the road to becoming a multi million dollar company.

About the Author:
This article was written by Dwayne Cassidy. Dwayne is a small business owner who got his merchant account from http://www.americardpayment.com/ and wrote this article after researching business success stories to encourage other aspiring entrepreneurs.

Keyword tags: Credit Card Processing, Merchant Card Processing, electronic processing

Sally is injured in a car accident. Her injuries make her unable to work. She receives substantial discounts from her health care providers and her remaining bills are paid by Medicaide.

At trial the insurance defense attorney hired by the at-fault driver wants to tell the jury about the discounts and Medicaide payments.

Will the trial judge allow him to do so?

No, says the “collateral source rule.” At least not if she lives in one of the states that still support the rule.

Collateral Source Rule Explained

The term “collateral” as used here means simply “additional”. The at-fault driver or “tort-feasor” as the law calls him, is responsible for making the injured person whole.

This includes making sure her medical bills are paid. Medicaide and the discounts are “additional sources” that have helped make Sally whole by paying her medical bills.

In the American legal system laws can be made by legislatures, administrative agencies, and by courts. The law created by courts is known as common law. The collateral source rule was court created in 1854.

The essence of this rule is summarized in Black’s Law Dictionary as follows:

“…if an injured person receives compensation for his injuries from a source wholly independent of the tort-feasor, the payment should not be deducted from the damages [monetary compensation] which he would otherwise collect from the tort-feasor. In other words, a defendant tortfeasor may not benefit from the fact that the plaintiff has received money from other sources as a result of the defendant’s tort.”

It is an evidentiary rule which means that the injured person has the right to ask the judge to keep evidence of collateral source payments away from the jury.

The most common collateral sources are medical insurance, workers compensation, VA medical benefits, Medicaide and other government programs.

Medical Discounts

While some states have refused to give medical discounts the protection of the collateral source rule, the majority opinion is just the opposite. A majority of states permit a plaintiff to recover the amounts billed for medical care, even when those amounts are discounted by the health care provider pursuant to a contract with the injured person’s health insurer.

States That Have Modified Or Eliminated The Rule

The legislatures of twenty eight (28) states have either abolished or modified the collateral source rule.

These states are as follows: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, West Virginia.

Here is a list, as of the date of this article, of the fourteen states that have completely abolished the rule: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oregon.

At the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies website you can find a list of the states that have modified the rule with a summary of the modification:
http://www.namic.org/reports/tortReform/CollateralSourceRule.asp

Even if you live in a state where the rule has been abolished or limited by the legislature, you should check on the current status as some state supreme courts have overruled the legislature and reinstated the rule.

Conclusion

If yours is one of the twenty two states that still have the collateral source rule in full or one of fourteen that have retained it in part, you need to know about and understand it.

Insurance companies will try to reduce your compensation by amounts which your health insurance has paid. Be alert, don’t let them put the evidence in front of the jury.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for legal advice. Seek an opinion from an experienced injury attorney in your state of residence.

About the Author:
Rex Bush is founder of Bush Law Firm near Salt Lake City, Utah where he handles personal injury cases in Utah and throughout the United States and Canada. For information on personal injury issues visit his Utah injury attorney website: http://www.utah-personal-injury-attorney.com

Keyword tags: personal injury,collateral source rule

The Crash

It’s a typical January morning as Sally leaves her home in Murray and enters I-15 headed for work at a law firm in downtown Salt Lake City. It is 7:30 a.m.

At the same time a large semi loaded with steel windows is approaching from the South. The driver, a long-haul veteran of 20 years over-the-road service for a major national trucking company has been up since 3:30 a.m.

Suddenly the driver slumps forward, lack of sleep from week-long road trip have caught up with him. His truck drifts slowly to the right, into the adjacent lane.

“BANG!” The trucker’s right-side mirror has just clipped the mirror of a flat bed truck in the adjacent lane.

The noise and accompanying jolt are enough to wake the trucker but his hasty response now imperils other drivers. He overcorrects into the left-lane where Sally is motoring peacefully to work.

The sudden impact abruptly changes Sally’s direction and she veers sharply across the media into southbound I-15 traffic. The head-on collision ends Sally’s life and that of the southbound driver.

The Logbook

In the truck accident legal case that followed, the lawyer for Sally’s family requested the driver’s logbook.

The logbook showed that the driver had been on the road for only two hours. Suspicious, the family’s lawyer, requested bills of lading, fuel receipts, and electronic data from the Global Positioning System used by the driver’s company to track his whereabouts.

The GPS data showed what the lawyer had suspected–the logbooks were falsified.

“The trucking industry appears to spend more time doctoring reports, falsifying logs and covering up fault than they do screening and training drivers,” says Frank B. a prominent Texas personal injury lawyer.

Federal law requires interstate drivers to record, either in written or digital “logbook” how they spend their workday. An interstate trucker is limited to 11 hours over a fourteen hour period. And once that eleven hours are up he must take a rest break lasting for at least ten straight hours.

Driver Fatigue

Truck driver fatigue is a major safety problem in truck accident legal cases. Some studies, including two by the National Transportation Safety Board, indicate that truck driver fatigue is a factor in 30 to 40% of severe crashes.

With driver fatigue and logbook falsification both being serious problems, the development and of electronic technology for the trucking industry has become a subject of considerable controversy.

What To Do In Case Of A Truck Crash

Here are some tips to follow if you are involved in a truck accident legal matter:

1. Never sign anything under pressure;
2. Take photographs and/or video of the crash site and the vehicles involved in the truck accident legal matter;
3. Do not sell or otherwise dispose of the vehicle involved in the crash;
4. Collect and preserve evidence after the crash;
5. Contact investigating authorities immediately.

Truck Accident Legal Resources

Truck Safety Advocate Newsletter
Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways
Washington, DC 20044-4380

Report to Congress on the Large Truck Crash Causation Study
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation

Disclaimer

This article is provided for informational purposes only. Seek advice from an experienced truck accident lawyer as to specific legal principles applicable to your case.

About the Author:
Rex Bush is founder of Bush Law Firm near Salt Lake City, Utah where he handles personal injury cases in Utah and throughout the United States and Canada. For information on personal injury issues visit his Utah injury attorney website: http://www.utah-personal-injury-attorney.com

Keyword tags: truck accident,truck accident attorney,truck accident lawyer

Have you been in a car accident? Here are some helpful suggestions:

1. If you have been in a car accident Do make a diagram of the accident, as well as to take down all pertinent information from drivers, passengers, and witnesses.

2. If you have been in a car accident Do take pictures of visible damage to your auto and of visible injury to your body.

3. If you have been in a car accident Do call police to have them come to the accident scene to make a report. Tell police about any injuries that you may have from the accident. If police refuse to send someone to the scene, go to the nearest police station and file a report.

4. If you have been in a car accident Do go to a doctor to have your injuries evaluated.

5. If you have been in a car accident Do call the insurance companies to report the accident.

6. If you have been in a car accident Do have your auto damage estimated at a quality repair facility.

7. If you have been in a car accident Do keep daily logs of your medical condition, mental stress, etc. Make notes of your visits with doctors and therapists.

8. If you have been in a car accident Do keep track of time missed from work and if self-employed, keep track of profits lost, because of the car accident.

9. If you have been in a car accident Do see a personal injury attorney before signing any bodily injury releases from insurance companies.

10. If you have been in a car accident Do Not fail to stop and exchange information with other driver/s. Penalties for “hit-and-run” driving are quite severe.

11. If you have been in a car accident Do Not refuse to sign a traffic ticket. It is only a promise to appear in court to explain your side of the story.

12. If you have been in a car accident Do Not move injured persons, unless leaving them alone would cause greater danger to their health and safety.

13. If you have been in a car accident Do Not allow witnesses or passengers to leave the scene of the accident until they have been properly identified, and a statement has been taken from them. Be sure you have their name, address and phone number.

14. If you have been in a car accident Do Not move cars until a record can be made of how the accident occurred.

15. If you have been in a car accident Do Not admit fault, discuss opinions, or offer information about accident to other driver/s, attorneys, or insurance companies other than your own.

16. If you have been in a car accident Do Not allow insurance companies to treat your claim unfairly.

17. If you have been in a car accident Do Not withhold any information from your attorney. All communications with him/her are privileged and confidential.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only, be sure to consult an experienced accident attorney about specific matters that pertain to your case.

About the Author:
Rex Bush is founder of Bush Law Firm near Salt Lake City, Utah where he handles personal injury cases in Utah and throughout the United States and Canada. For information on personal injury issues visit his Utah injury attorney website: http://www.utah-personal-injury-attorney.com

Keyword tags: car accident,automobile accident,attorney,lawyer

Writing articles is a skill that everybody can learn. Article marketing is a skill that everybody can learn. Put the two together and you have a powerful tool to promote a product.

Your objectives in online marketing are promoting your website and selling your products. By ‘website’ I mean any web presence: a regular website, your Facebook page profile, your Squidoo lens, your YouTube video, your Blog, and any other way in which you use the internet to make money.

You Must Connect!

Without promotion you will be failing to connect with most of your potential customers. Even with promotion, you will fail to connect with most of them, but you will do better than if you do not.

Writing articles on a topic that interests people who might be interested in your product is sure-fire way of getting your products in front of your prospects. Who are your prospects? People who are interested in your niche or the topic of your article enough to buy your product.

Marketing is easy in theory, and involves these steps:

1. Find a product to market – yours or somebody else’s on commission.

2. Bring the product to the attention of interested people

3. Persuade them to buy.

So where does writing articles fit in to this simplified process? At stages 2 and 3!

Catch their Eye!

The title of your article must catch your prospective customer’s eye. It must interest them – perhaps offer the promise to solve a problem they have, offer to make them money or save them time, or offer some new information on the subject. Anything to start them reading!

Keep them Interested

Then you have to interest them. Don’t lose them after the first couple of sentences. Expand on the title: if your title is ‘How to Breed Championship-Winning Dogs’, don’t begin with a sentence or two on dog food. It might be relevant to the breeding process, but it will seem like an advert, and the reader will stop reading.

Expand on the title: “By using a new technique it easier now to breed championship-winning dogs than it ever has been”. I know nothing about breeding dogs, but that would work better than “The food you feed your dog is important. . .”

Once you have them reading, then you can propose the main problem and present your solution, full details of which can be found by clicking on the link in your resource. You can’t say that of course, but you can infer it in the final summing up paragraph of your article, and leave the reader with nothing more to do than either leave the page or click on the link.

Persuasion is Key

The third action – persuading them to buy – is done on your website, once they have made that all-important click. So the simplified marketing process above can work if you know how to write articles properly, by baiting the hook with a good title, retaining interest with your first couple of sentences and then offering no option at the end but to click to your website to find out more information.

As I wrote in the first sentence, ‘writing articles is a skill’, but one that can be taught, so if you want to learn how to market a product the easy way, you should learn how to write articles and how to use article marketing the way the professionals do.

You will find marketing your product a lot easier by doing so.

About the Author:
Pete is a professional article ghost writer. For a free course on how to write articles, visit http://www.articleczar.com/gift.html where Pete will give you a free gift just for looking. Visit his website at http://www.article-services.com

Keyword tags: Writing articles, article marketing, article writing, online marketing, promote a product, how to wr