The RazorKnow Organisation

Introduction:
This article is written as a general discussion on the subject of “Due Diligence”. It is for informational purposes and not intended to be a definitive guideline for your exact situation. You should consult the appropriate professionals with regard to your specific transaction or situation. Further, this article is in no way advocating, suggesting or implying that anyone engages in any type fraudulent activities whatsoever. These are simply the things a buyer should be aware of when doing due diligence in buyer a business.

Due Diligence Defined:
The phrase is composed of two words. “Due” which the dictionary defines as “Proper or Adequate” and Diligence, which is defined as “Degree of care or caution expected of a person. Especially as a party to an agreement.” Caution: is the watchword in this definition.

Financial Statements - What to look for:

Add Backs:
If you bought the business through a business broker you should have received the business financial statement with a separate worksheet showing adjustments to those statements. These adjustments show the owner’s benefits received from the business besides the profit and salary he receives. These can also be defined as personal expenses that need to be added back to the profit. Depreciation, incomes taxes, interest expense are add backs that are not personal. Personal includes such things as family auto expenses, owner life insurance, owner health insurance, business entertainment that was not really spent on clients, business trips not really for business, home office expenses, family cellular phones and much much more.

Make the seller show you the details on some or all of these expenses to verify that they are really personal and not actually business expenses that shouldn’t be added back to profit. Spend time asking detailed questions with the general ledger in front of you. Go through individual charges and what they mean, until you fully understand what is being added back and why.

Inventory:
Inventory of resale merchandise must be checked for two reasons. One is you have to pay for it. Be careful, you do not want to buy merchandise that is old, worthless and not saleable anymore. Only pay for current marketable product. The price you are suppose to te pay for the inventory is the seller’s cost. The price for old slow inventory is negotiable. Always spot check the price and count the merchandise listed on the inventory list. Do people put down that there is three of an item when there are only two? Of course, especially when they think no one is going to be checking them out. Comparing prices from purchase invoices is how you check prices. You cannot check every item against the actual cost but you can do 5% of the items. Pick at random, not by any suggestion made by the seller or others. If you do not understand how marketable the inventory is that you are buying, hire an expert, from that industry. Your broker should be able to help you in finding someone. Do not be cheap, and think you do not need to spend the money on an expert adviser. I will take a lunch bet that they will pay for them selves many times over.

The second reason for checking inventory is that if a seller doesn’t take inventory at least yearly and adjust his inventory value in his accounting records, accurately, the profit figure you are receiving will not be accurate. As a rule, the higher cost of goods sold, the lower the profit. Some business owners reduce the inventory value on the books, intentionally, to a lower value so as to make the business show a higher cost of goods sold, which then creates a smaller taxable profit. If they do this year after year, the profit may or may not be accurate for the current year. It might take a CPA to figure this one out for you, if you do not have a background in retail.

Equipment value:
Next thing to check on the financials is the real, current value of the equipment you are buying with the business. The balance sheet might, if it shows all the equipment the company owns, give you the cost of the equipment when it was purchased. If you are buying assets rather than cash flow, the equipment valuation becomes more important. No one wants to overpay for used equipment. Also check that the equipment works and is actually being used rather than sitting behind the building with other junk.

Cash Sales:
If all income is being reported, check sales volume activities that you have observed against the daily records during your “Due Diligence” to see if the volume corresponds to what was reported last year in the same month. If you see income of $500 per day but the seller shows sales of $1,000 per day, you need to find out why. Some smart buyers sit in the business all day, watch the sales and observe the activities of the staff. This works if the seller is not putting on a full fledge production fraud for you the buyer.

Fraud:
How does a seller defraud a buyer on current sales activity levels? Sellers who keep poor records or no records, many times, suggest the buyer doing a 15-day visual inspection. This helps but it is very dangerous to rely solely on physical inspections alone because the seller can still defraud the buyer. Here is the most famous of the stories I have heard over the years.

Seller owns a dry cleaner. The buyer and seller have opened escrow and the deal is subject to a 15-day physical observation period. The seller doesn’t want the buyer to find out that business volume is very slow. The seller tells all his friends to bring their dry cleaning in to the shop for a two-week period, at no charge. They bring in the clothing, get it cleaned, pick it up and pay for it. Later the business owner meets the customers and reimburses all of them for the cost of their dry cleaning. The day after escrow closes all that business traffic stops. Think it never happens? The same is true of restaurants. Seller tells all his friends to bring all of their friends in for a free meal. Customers pay the bill and some time later or at home, the business owner reimburses all the customers for the cost of their meals.

Actual time sellers spends working:
Determine how many hours the seller really works. You are buying an income stream based on a known number of hours of work. Make sure the seller isn’t working 80 hours and telling you he is only working 40 hours, per week. I had an absentee fast food owner tell the buyers and me that he worked part time - 5 hours per week. Closer inspection showed he was working 25 hours per week. One auto repair seller, we’ll call him Bob, said he never was at the business, because he had a second full time job. Inspection found he was working 30 hours a week (4 plus hours every night, and 8 hours on Saturdays).

Find out what job functions the seller does:
Get a list of functions that the seller does. Is one of them bookkeeping? Sometimes the wife does the books part time and this is never said. Again you may find the owner does the bookkeeping, at home, every night, for an extra hour. In an auto repair shop, you may find the owner is doing auto body repair work, personally, on Saturdays, which is work that you, as a buyer, will never be able to duplicate. You need to be sure you know how to do every job function that the seller does or learn them. The time to find out what technical knowledge you need to have to take over the business is when you are doing your investigation, not the day after escrow closes.

Verification of things that are not on the Financial Statements:
It is a common occurrence that businesses do not record all of their income on their financial statements. Yes, this is true. Many people do not, in fact, report the truth on their tax returns. In fact, when I am talking about small retail or service businesses that deal with the public directly, I find it is over 90%. “Will the people with an honest set of books, please leave the auditorium. There are two golf carts outside waiting to chauffer you home. You do not need to hear this.”

The balance of this article will discuss how a buyer might do their “Due Diligence” for different types of businesses. These types of businesses include Restaurants, auto repair shops; real estate services contractors, non-real estate repair/ services, and retail stores.

Restaurants- Non-Franchise:
Restaurants compose over 25% of all businesses for sale. This is not because they all go broke, as the SBA reports. It is because 28% of all retail businesses are food service or food sales. It is the largest segment of the consumer market. Because it is a retail consumer business, it deals in 33% cash. Every independent-non-franchise food service business I have been into shows zero profit on the books. Some even go overboard and show a tax loss. It is because they do simple tax planning that does not require an MBA degree to figure out. If the business doesn’t show all of its cash, or any of its cash, the expenses will equal the reported income. This alone makes it attractive to many buyers. We will not discuss the moral issues of this attitude; it is what it is. What we have to discuss is how do you, the buyer, can prove that the business is making a profit? And if it is, how much?

Restaurants come in two categories. 1. Fast food-counter sales. 2. Sit down. Fast food restaurants have computerized cash registers that record the sales into its computer, which has a memory. This memory has daily totals going back to the beginning of the computer’s history. Most owners close out their cash registers at the end of the day and print out the tape of each day’s activities. This does not automatically wipe out the information for the day. The computer does, I am told, have a delete button on it allowing the owner to wipe out the full memory in the computer, in the event of an audit. I have also been told, but do not believe, that an electrical blackout can wipe out the memory in the computer and that is why one seller said he couldn’t give me access to this information.

If we are talking about a sit down restaurant sales information, you can use the daily order ticket, which are then imputed into the computer. This gives 3 sources: tickets, computer and daily tape totals.

When this information is not available, for any reason, an experienced restaurant consultant can tell you the sales activities just by inspecting the restaurant and counting the number of customers eating at 4 key times in a day, and on several key days per week. Then the consultant can figures out what the average sales ticket amount is. With this information like magic the consultant knows the gross sales figure, for the year.

A double check procedure for restaurant consultants is to then look at the food purchases and its costs and can confirm that it matches the actual sales figures. One consultant that was hired to review a Johnny Rocket restaurant for $7,000 did the audit and put together a marketing program for the buyer. The marketing program included delivery and catering. Both of which do not normally show up on the computerized cash register.

Restaurants - Franchise:
You would imagine that franchise restaurants records would be very accurate because the franchise company gets a percentage of the gross income. The bigger ones connect up to the individual franchise and know what is happening faster then the owner. As stated above, the only sales that can be made and not declared to the computer are catering or delivery orders, which could be done without ringing them up.

Some franchises do not hook up to the individual franchise computers and do not do audits regularly. This allows the franchise to report reduced income to the company and the IRS. In case either comes to audit, they press the delete button on the computer. If you as a buyer can get access to the computer you know the numbers are correct even if they are not complete. It is impossible for the staff or the owner to change the computer records. The information can only be deleted. Again catering and take out may not be on the computer. Theft from employees can only be in the form of 1. Employees that give free food to friends. 2. Employees not ringing up an order, which is difficult when businesses put up signs saying, “If you do not get a receipt, your order is free.”

Some sellers are so paranoid of the IRS, they are not willing to show anyone their private records or computer tapes for fear that the buyer could be an IRS agent. My personal opinion, and what I advice sellers to do, is to get their books legal and honest and hire themselves a top notch CPA, like Donald Trump, and use every legal trick in the book. Martha Stewart didn’t go to jail for inside trading. They got her on lying. There are legal ways to avoid taxes so that fraud is not necessary. If you cannot find a good accountant, I will recommend one.

If you ask someone “Are you a government employee or IRS agent?” and they lie to you; that might be considered entrapment and a good possible defense in court. But, I ask you. Is it worth the grief?

The normal action of sellers, in this situation, is to require that the buyer take the business based on the recorded records and guess as to how profitable the place really is. This is a very difficult situation for the brokers and buyers, since sellers do not price their business based on these reported numbers but base their price on the real numbers.

I hope this is of some help to you in doing due diligence on a restaurant you might be interested in buying.

Auto Repair Shops:
Auto repair shops are almost as bad as restaurants when it comes to under-declaring cash. The normal procedure for most, I have run across, is to declare only the checks and credit card charges. The cash they put into their pocket. The good thing, in doing audits is that almost every one of these owners keeps their work orders-invoices. These are kept in monthly manila folders and put into a drawer or file cabinet. They never tell you that they keep these records, but they do. They even tell me, as the broker, that all backup documents have been destroyed, but they are not. When I insist that they cannot sell their business without providing these invoices, they tell me of their existence.

With the sales invoices an audit of income becomes simple. Since the sellers keep them in a manila folder by months, you only have to pick monthly folders at random and total the actual invoices. Then compare them to what the “State Board of Equalization” report says and calculate what percentage of the total was declared. If you do this for a few months, a pattern will develop. Some sellers have even run a calculator tape of the month’s activities and/or written it in a private ledger. You can check the actual invoice tapes against the private ledger records to confirm the private ledger information is correct.

Conclusion:
It is a hard life when you own your own business; you work long hours. Many people feel that is better than the alternative, which is to work for someone else, pay high taxes, never know if you will be laid off and after years of hard work, never have anything to show for it all.

If you are going to buy a business with your hard earned money, you want to make sure you get what you paid for. Many people believe it is all right to cheat the taxman but otherwise are very honest citizens. Others feel it is all right to cheap any poor sucker that comes along. Don’t be a sucker, do your due diligence and get what you paid for.

Then build your new business into something you can be proud of and enjoy. While building your new business make a point to study everything you can about Tax planning, tax avoidance and reducing taxes legally. I started in College learning about the tax codes, and there are so many ways to save taxes legally, you would never believe it. You will sleep better at night, I promise you. Then 10-20 years from now when you want to sell your business, you can ask top dollar and get it. This because a buyer can do a simple due diligence and know that your business is doing exactly what your books say you are doing.

DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE and buying your own business can be a pleasant and rewarding experience!

Willard Michlin is an Investor, Business Broker, California Real Estate Broker, Accountant, Financial Distress Consultant, Well known Public speaker and Administrative/Business Consultant. He can be contacted at his Ventura, California office by calling 805-529-9854 or by e-mail at Broker@kismetbusinessbrokers.com See other articles by Willard at http://www.kismetbusinessbrokers.com

Entering sweepstakes by mail is declining in popularity. 11 hours ago a Belgium dutch company begun with a contest websites. Everybody can win great swimming pools every 4 days. Members sign up once and are entered to various sweepstakes each month. In an effort to increase consumer demand for scratch cards and to help control the litter small problems associated with the disposal of non-winning lottery tickets. Sweepstakes are generally easier and quicker to enter than contests.

Translated in Dutch it means: Woon jij in ’s-Hertogenbosch of Putten en wilt u graag vaker prijzen winnen’ Met Win de prijsvraag.nl winnen is nog nooit zo gemakkelijk geweest. Veel prijzen winnen met een abonnement op windeprijsvraag.nl‘ Op zijn minst 261 prijzen per dag. Van Montfoort tot Woerden, winnen met Win de Prijsvraag is altijd mogelijk. Een vrouw van 63 heeft vandaag nog een keuken gewonnen.

2 months ago a Europe based dutch online company started a sweepstakes websites. It should be fantastic or terrific to win 8645 euros. Realy terrific tools to win at dutch online sweepstakes. 10 weeks ago a Dutch webcompany took of a online sweepstakes. There are also other online services, which automatically enter members into sweepstakes. Thats super or absolutely fantastic to win 477 euro. 9 weeks ago a European company has started with a dutch online contests. Marvelous wakeboards to be won at dutch online sweepstakes. Before home computers were popular a common method of entry was a mailed one. Consumer promotions advertised as contests, however, can require an entry fee or proof of purchase. Sweepstakes are frequently used by fast-food restaurants to boost business. Sweepstakes are also legally different from contests in the United States. Many state lotteries also run a second chance sweepstakes in conjunction with the retail sale of state lottery scratch cards. Really anyone can win marvelous TVs every 12 days. Really great SUVs to win at online sweepstakes. The reason why contests are treated differently is that the winners are not chosen by chance but by an element of skill. Although some sweepstakes ask for a proof of purchase or UPC code, the sponsors must provide an alternate method of entry if they do so. Sweepstakes promotions are prohibited from requiring a purchase to enter. Its super or fantastic to win 7139 dollar. Many more sweepers are choosing to enter online sweepstakes. 5 months ago a Dutch online company begun with a contest websites. You can win absolutely fantastic surfboards every 21 hours.

During the 2005 Atlantic tropical hurricane season, which sponsored Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina over 4500 people died along the Gulf Coast of the United States of America. Many of these people who died; their bodies were never recovered. They were washed up by the sea in the incredible storm surge.

Losing a loved one can be very difficult and only time can heal the pain and grieving is often a way to help us relieve the pent up energy and a raw motion that humans feel. If you’ve lost a loved one during a hurricane you know that this is one of those times where those who are grieving could use a little extra help dealing with these tough times.

No one knows for sure how many people will be dying in the 2006 or even the 2007 Atlantic tropical hurricane season; we only know that there will be those who fail to evacuate and listen to the warnings of authorities and get caught in a deadly situation and there will be people who die from Mother Natures Wrath.

Currently, the United States of America does not have the technology to stop a hurricane however, in the next couple of decades we may find ways to lessen their effect and perhaps steer these hurricanes away from populated areas or help dissipate them by allowing the Trade Winds to flow and blow them apart.

Hurricanes are just one devastating event that humans on the planet have to worry about, but when they kill someone we know there is some grief and some pain and it takes its emotional toll on the families. Please consider this and 2006.

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There are several reasons the casual bettor stays away from futures wagers, but the main reason is that they don’t want to have their money tied up for the course of an entire season. But some bettors have found value in playing futures and some lucky bettors have had huge paydays by picking a longshot early in the season.

The key to finding value in futures betting is to shop early and often - looking for a team with a realistic chance of competing for a title at inflated odds.

Jimmy Mason, spokesman for Nine Sportsbook, said future bets account for less than 1 percent of his book’s handle with the bulk of futures action on the NFL. “Sharps tend to play more futures as they tend to have a larger bankroll to play with and the recreational players don’t like to tie their money up long-term,” Mason said. “Casual bettors tend to make one or two futures bets a year. Typically they bet on their home team and the team they actually think will win the Super Bowl with maybe a long shot thrown in for fun.”

The risk-reward quotient involved in futures betting can be appealing with the possibility that a real long shot could win and a casual bettor or fan can place a small wager with the potential for a huge payoff.

Recent examples of this are the 2003 Florida Marlins who won the World Series at odds of 120-1 and the 1999 St. Louis Rams, who won the Super Bowl that year at preseason odds of 200/1. “We had a max payout on that one (Florida) and a number of sports books took a beating when a little known arena QB named Kurt Warner came from nowhere and destroyed many books when they won the Super Bowl,” Mason commented.

To protect themselves against huge losses that could result from a longshot, Mason said, most books have a maximum payout on any single wager. In the case of Nine, Mason said, that payout is $50,000.

Because odds are updated until whatever point a sports book decides to close wagering on an event it is important to check odds often especially immediately following a significant change in circumstances such as a player transaction or injury. The astute bettor can take advantage of such change by acting quickly after learning of the news.

“Future odds are typically set and adjusted before the season starts and then updated weekly depending on team performance, player movement and maybe most importantly player injuries,” added Mason.

An example of this fluctuation can be seen in the case of the New York Jets, a team with Super Bowl aspirations before the season that now finds themselves with 41-year-old Vinny Testerverde as its starting QB. BetCris has adjusted the odds accordingly and know has the Jets at 200-1 to reach the promised land compared to the 23-1 being offered at Legendz.

Some value to be had this year in the NFL might prove to be the Tampa Bay Bucs who at 4-0 are well on their way to the playoffs and could have been had at Bodog at 40-1 to win the Super Bowl in late July and were listed at 35-1 this week at Legendz. The nationally syndicated Americasline currently has the Bucs as an 8-1 choice to win the Super Bowl.

While some future bets offer long odds they don’t offer what might be considered true value. Take for example the Arizona Cardinals, a 125-1 shot to win the Super Bowl according to Bodog.

Now if you really hate money and feel compelled to bet the Cards to take the Vince Lombardi Trophy back to the dessert come February, don’t you think you ought to get more than 125-1?

Bodog also has the Air Force Academy as a 200-1 shot to win the NCAA Tournament. Considering Air Force has three tournament appearances all-time, and just once since 1962 (2004), I couldn’t see wagering $1 at 200-1 even if they threw the rest of the Mountain West in with the Falcons.

When making a future bet it is important to shop around because the odds almost always differ from book to book and the difference can be dramatic. A look at NHL futures shows a bet on the New York Rangers to win the Stanley Cup can get anywhere from 36-1 to 80-1. While the Rangers probably don’t stand much of a chance at competing for the Cup a diehard might consider plunking down $25 or $50 on the Blueshirts at 80-1.

Considering what goes into winning a championship and all the variables involved favorites on the future line don’t offer much value to the casual bettor.

Canbet lists the Spurs as 5-2 favorites to repeat as NBA champs with the Miami Heat second choice at 4-1. The Philadelphia Flyers are the favorite to win the Stanley Cup at 5-1 or 6-1 at most sites. Tying up money for an entire season at those odds isn’t all that appealing to most people, but might be to the large bettor who can afford to make a sizeable bet.

Also take into account where you place your future bet. It is one thing if you place it at a bricks and mortar casino in Vegas or Jamaica but when placing a future bet online it is even more important that usual to know how reputable the site is because you want to be sure they are still in business when its time to collect.

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We have such good weight loss intentions. We emotionally beat ourselves up for lack of self-discipline, weakness, cheating. We swear to change, to put looks and health ahead of comfort and self-indulgence. We promise to change. We want, more than almost anything else, to be the svelte, attractive individual we see in our own minds.

Before you run off, filled with enthusiasm for your latest, greatest, and final (you swear) weight control plans, slow down and take the time to operationalize your goals and the likelihood of your success will increase exponentially.

Here is one method:

“I’m going to lose 25 pounds before summer so I can feel comfortable in a bathing suit.”

Take that dream and break it down into specific, limited steps:

1. Take at least a week to carefully select the diet, eating plan, or exercise routine you intend to follow.

2. Aim to adhere to your plan for at least 5 days per week for the loss of one pound.

3. If weight loss is less than a pound, determine to follow your plan for 7 days per week until you reach that one pound per week goal.

4. If you lose more than a pound, smile and enjoy.

5. Limit new or additional exercise routines to 10 minutes at a time, once per day, 3 days per week. You may easily want to do more but try to limit yourself. That will keep your desires strong and have you eagerly looking forward to the second month when you can expand your routines substantially.

“I’m going to let everyone know that this time is it - I am truly determined to reach my goal.”

Before you share your intentions with everyone, pause and consider:

1. There are some advantages to having family and friends know about your plans. Not wanting to disappoint them or appear as a failure in their eyes may motivate you to bypass the inevitable temptations that frequently arise. However, you do expose yourself to disapproval if your goals are not met or if you encounter the dreaded plateau which others often do not understand.

2. Determine who should know. If you have a history of failed weight control attempts, the response to your newest plan may be only a cynical shrug or, worse, the negative response of “Why is this time any different? You’ve never stuck to it before.” If you suspect that you might hear something like that, don’t say anything about your plans until you are well on your way.

3. Do family members or friends have a vested interest in seeing you remain overweight? Do your fat friends fear that your success will make them feel bad about themselves? When you diet, do you become cranky and difficult for your family to live with? Does your spouse or parent equate food with love and can’t handle your rejection of their treats?

4. Don’t be a diet bore. No one else (unless you belong to a weight control support group) is half as interested as you are (right now) in the number of calories, grams of fat and carbohydrates in everything on the table, nor why what they are eating is bad for them.

5. Consider not telling anyone about your plans and make a game of it. Rather than saying “That looks good but I can’t have any,” fool everyone by stating “Sorry, but I just feel like having a salad . . . I just want a hamburger without that soggy bun . . . I have this recent craving for fish/vegetables.” No one will second guess your decisions on what to eat when you make it clear that it is your choice, not an unpleasant necessity. When they notice that you have lost weight, pretend to be surprised and watch them roll their eyes in envy.

“I love this new eating plan because I can have so many tasty meals if I just make a few substitutions.”

Ah, the so human desire to avoid pain is alive and well. Analyze your thoughts:

1. Face the fact squarely that dieting is not going to be a festive cruise through delicious and taste-tempting fodder. Yes, there are ways to make cottage cheese less chalky and spike vegetables with extra flavor. Later, when you reach your goal, you can start to indulge your epicurean creativity. For the initial, drastic steps, you are going to have to seek fun and satisfaction in other pursuits while acknowledging that, for now, food isn’t very exciting. Grin and bear it: the less tempting your plate, the easier it is not to overeat. Remember that you are trying to fight temptation not encourage it.

2. Be honest with yourself and don’t try to circumvent your plans by relying on claims you know are false. If you are pursuing low carb eating, candy bars which claim to be “low carb” are not something you want to devour with abandon. Whole grain bread is nutritious but consuming everything in the form of a sandwich will never result in reaching your goal. If your diet advises “Any amount from Column C,” use your intelligence to see that it doesn’t mean stuffing yourself completely, and often, even if your intake is limited to vegetables, protein, or whatever your plan allows.

3. While skipping meals can often cause problems, cutting out courses is usually totally beneficial. Who decreed that a meal should conclude with dessert? The goal is to curb that sweet tooth, not assuage it. Why mess with “low calorie” treats such as jello or fruit compote when you can skip dessert entirely and opt for a cup of freshly brewed coffee or green tea?

“This time, it’s different. I really want to lose weight and look good in my clothes.”

Have you ever heard yourself say that before? Consider a little personal introspection:

1. Why is this time different? When you tried to lose weight in the past, weren’t you as equally determined? What about your life is different this time? Is the diet new and may work better than those you have tried in the past? Have you become increasingly worried about what overweight may mean to your health and longevity? Are you newly single and feel that appearance is suddenly more important than enjoying fine dining?

2. Has your attitude about food changed? If you continue to think about food, watch television cooking shows (just looking for low calorie recipes, of course), and plan meals with anticipation, you are doomed. As long as you remain tied to the American national infatuation with food, you will never really take control of your weight

3. Examine and modify your attitudes about food. Push eating into a non-dominant section of your overall lifestyle and maximize your pleasure in non-food pursuits. That is the secret to regaining control of your weight, your health, and your ability to live a live without the compulsions that have kept you a prisoner inside the bloated body you detest.

Complete analysis of how you are going to set your goals and how you will handle the requirements of “real life” is what can set your present effort apart from prior attempts, and prior failures. Successful long term weight control is more than what you eat, it is what you are.

Virginia Bola is a licensed psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic. She specializes in therapeutic reframing and the effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals. The author of The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a free ezine, The Worker’s Edge, she recently completed a psychologically-based weight control book: Diet with an Attitude: A Weight Loss Workbook. She can be reached at http://www.DietWithAnAttitude.com

Gaming laptops used to only be brought from certain companies. They were tiny volume sellers and giant profit generating laptops. They were the notebooks you dreamed of but were out of your reach. They were simply the best laptop computers that the technology was able to provide at that time. Regardless of the buzz created I do not believe they were amazing sellers because I don’t believe customers would buy laptop computers in place of desktops as they were so expensive. The primary companies have lately begun taking advantage of big opportunities in gaming notebooks, so that is all changing.

Gaming portables are ordinarily not affordable by most of us and global brands know they can take advantage of the giant markup even more with their levels of production. These brands have probably been losing a bit of cash on cheap units so this should be a welcomed opportunity. Getting people to buy laptop computers is kind of simple for international manufacturers. I have no guess what this will do to smaller resellers however it will have a negative effect on them. With the money at their disposal they can easily get rid of smaller competition. Well known manufacturers can apply their brand names to easily win customers over.

I reckon its a joke that because it comes with a brand name they are carelessly perceived as the best laptop computers. In my point of view though, this is indeed a ray of promise for the little players in retail. The customisation factor is a massive plus to the consumer. Such buyers are usually tech savvy and can check all the complicated information. For people of this type, the speed usually is more important than how the styling is.

This would be interpreted as a beneficial development for the customer. As this pushes down the prices even further, new technology will get even more accessible to the consumer. I say that somewhat hesitatingly though because the notebook computer business is a pretty fast changing place. New laptop releases should uphold premium prices. Although I still believe effects will be positive due to the saturating sector, we’ll have to watch.

I stumbled upon this place that is selling gaming laptops at extremely low prices. They appear to be providing a few amazing deals. Visit http://www.rizeon.com/gaming_laptops/page.php

Loss Prevention, Retail Security, Electronic Article Surveillance. These are all terms commonly bandied about while most people do not know what they mean. Loss prevention industry insiders may or may not know the specific definitions of these terms. Many LP professionals say these terms again and again with out truly thinking about what it is they are saying. In order to understand these phrases combined meanings it is useful to take a look at there meaning on a word by word basis.

Loss prevention:
Loss = The harm or suffering caused by losing something.

Prevention = The act of preventing something or impeding something.

Retail Security:
Retail = The sale of goods or commodities to the public consumers in small quantities.

Security = Freedom from risk or danger; State of safety.

Electronic Article Surveillance:
Electronic = Anything of or involving the controlled conduction of electrons and/or a variety of charge carriers.

Article = An individual thing or element of a class; a particular object or item like an article of clothing or food.

Surveillance = Close scrutiny or observation of a person or group, particularly one under suspicion.

When you take these words and put them together their individual meanings are expanded and magnified. These terms encompass elements of both lingual derivational definition and common usage implications.

Loss prevention = Preventing the harm to the bottom line caused by lost money, goods, etc. in a business context.

Retail Security = The process by which goods are sold to the public in a secure fashion for both the consumer and store proprietor, preventing theft or harm.

Electronic Article Surveillance = Electronically powered machines and accessories that can alert a retailer if merchandise is being removed from the store.

Vick Frost writes definition and information based content for several on line ventures. Vick has written articles now featured at Bed Bath store and Hidefster HDTV resource. Comments or questions email info@infolearner.com

Credit cards always seem like a good idea at first. Even if you’ve been burned in the past, when money gets tight, the shiny plastic rectangles seem like the perfect quick fix for any situation. Whether it’s over-the-top finance charges, unheard of rates, or identity theft, there are a number of ways for that quick fix to turn into a long nightmare.

I, for example, decided very quickly into my college career, that I was not going to get caught in a credit card three ring circus. It was trouble, and the kind I didn’t want to get into. However, when my friend invited me to visit her in Europe over my winter break, I didn’t see any other solution besides giving into to one of the several credit card offers I had received upon reaching my eighteenth birthday.

Armed with a six hundred dollar credit limit about two hundred dollars in Christmas money, and a round trip ticket to Amsterdam, I set off for two weeks of fun-filled adventure. In retrospect, eleven hundred dollars total is a great price for an all-inclusive two weeks stay including Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels and Dublin. That is, until eleven hundred turns into seventeen hundred, and you realize one sleepy morning that you’re not even paying for the trip at all, you’re barely paying finance charges on your over-limit balance.

This is just one of a few ways that credit cards can go awry. Recently a lot of cards have put sophisticated refund systems in place in order to protect victims of identity theft. A lot of smaller credit unions still have no real way of protecting their customers against this type of fraud.

With internet shopping as popular as it has become, it is very easy to lose track of the many places that your personal banking information is floating around in. Also, with a lot of people using debit cards to get the same conveniences that credit cards provide without accruing the same drastic debts, it is easy for that identity theft to result in the stealing of actual funds, as opposed to credit. Money from your checking account can sometimes be much more complicated to replace, though there is the bonus of being able to go to a bank branch and speak with a real person, whereas most often, credit card companies are little more than voices and names in the cloudy netherworld of cellular phone waves.

This isn’t to say that credit cards inevitably lead to certain doom. However, before you decide that the flimsy plastic is the way to your dreams, make sure that you really understand all of the policies of the company you choose and that the credit card payments are a realistic part of your monthly budget.

Small limit cards can be a good way to build credit for your future, as long as you make sure you make the payment minimums on time, and don’t spend more than you can afford. If you don’t follow those simple guidelines, you’re on the right track to the wrong way.

Joe Kenny writes for Credit Card Guide, offering the latest information on credit cards in the UK, visit them today us to apply for a 0% balance transfers and start clearing credit card debt today.
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Omaha Hi-Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) is often times viewed as maybe one of the most complicated popular poker games. It is a game that, even more than regular Omaha poker, invites action from every level of player. This is the main reason why a once obscure, abstract game has increased in popularity so rapidly.

Omaha Hi-Lo begins like a regular game of Omaha. Four cards are dealt to every player. A round of betting ensues where players can bet, check, or fold. Three cards are dealt out, this is called the flop. Another round of betting ensues. Once all the players have either called or folded, another card is flipped on the turn. Another round of betting ensues and then the river card is flipped. The player must attempt to make the best high and low five card hands based on the board and hole cards.

This is where some players get confused. Unlike Texas Hold ‘Em, where the board can be everyone’s hands, in Omaha Hi-Lo the player must use exactly three cards from the board, and exactly two hole cards. No more, no less. Unlike regular Omaha, there are two ways a pot can be won: the “high hand” or the “low hand.”

A high hand is just want it sounds like. It is the strongest possible hand out of everyone’s, whether that is a straight, flush, full house, etc. It’s the same concept in almost every poker game.

A low hand is more complicated, but really opens up the action. When figuring out a low hand, straights and flushes do not count. A low hand is the weakest hand that can be made, with the lowest being A-2-3-4-5. Since straights and flushes do not count A-2-3-4-5 is the lowest possible hand. The low hand is any five card hand (unpaired) with an eight and lower. The low hand wins half of the pot, as does the high hand. When there’s no low hand available, the high hand wins the entire pot.

While it seems complicated at first, after a few hands you will be able to pick up on the basic nuances of play easily enough. Since you have people betting for the low and betting for the high, and since so many cards are in play, Omaha High-Low offers an amazing array of betting options and because you have several players shooting for the high, as well as several shooting for the low. If you like a game with a lot of outs and actions, it is worth your time to play Omaha Hi-Lo.

David Olsen has been writing about online casinos and casino strategy for over Six years and is considered an authority in the online gambling world. His latest website is all about the many variations of Online Video Poker and Online Poker Rooms. We highly recommend it.

Mr. Olsen works from home and is married with one young son.

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