Estimating your assets value:

Typically, one of the first questions a business owner will ask me is, “how much will the assets bring at an auction”. After taking the time to review the assets, the auctioneer should give the client a conservative estimate of the sale based upon his experience and the current market trends. It is important that the company give realistic expectations so the seller can make informed decisions based on their best interest.

Compensation and Expenses:

Is the company you are considering working for you or against you? The agreement you decide may determine this.

A business owner should carefully consider how the auction company is compensated. The most common commission structures include: straight commission, outright purchase of assets, guaranteed base with a split above to both auctioneer and seller, guaranteed base with anything above going to auctioneer or a flat fee structure.

In a straight commission structure, the company is paid an agreed upon percentage of the total sale.

In an outright purchase agreement, the auctioneer simply becomes your end buyer. The company purchases your assets and relocates them. While this can be an option in some unique situations, keep in mind that they will want to purchase your assets at a very reduced price to make a profit at a later date.

In a minimum base guarantee, the auction company guarantees the seller that the auction will generate a minimum amount of sales. Anything above that amount either goes to the auction company or split with the seller. While a seller might feel more comfortable doing an auction knowing that he is guaranteed a minimum amount for his sale, keep in mind that it is the best interest of the auction company to secure a minimum base price as low as possible in order reduce their financial liability to the seller and secure higher compensation for the sale.

In a flat fee structure, the auctioneer agrees to show up for the sale and call the auction. There is no incentive for the auctioneer to get the best prices for your assets. The auction company is compensated regardless of the outcome of your sale.

What is the best option for business owners? In my experience, an agreed upon straight commission structure. This puts the responsibility on the auction company to offer the best outcome for everyone involved. There is an incentive for the auction company to work hard for both parties, set up and run a professional sale, get the highest bid and sell every item on the inventory. Successful auctions translate to a higher bottom line for both the seller and the auction company.

Auction Expenses:

In most auction agreements the expenses to conduct an auction are passed to the seller. If the auction company pays for the expenses, it is simply absorbed in higher commission rates.

All expenses should be agreed upon in advance in a written contract. Typical expenses will include the costs of advertising, labor, legal fees, travel, equipment rentals, security, postage and printing. A reputable auction company will be able to estimate all expenses based upon their experience in previous auctions. An agreement should be actual costs charged as expenses, not an estimated amount.

Advertising is typically the highest cost in conducting an auction. The auction company needs to set up an advertising campaign that will promote the sale to its best advantage and not overspend to simply advertise the auction company.

Once the auction is complete, the auction company should provide a complete breakdown of all expenses to the seller, including copies of receipts within the auction summary report.

Buyer’s Premium:

What is a buyer’s premium? If you attend auctions regularly, you are very familiar with this term. The auction company charges a fee to the buyer when they buy an item at auction.

The buyer’s premium has been around since the 1980′s and is standard auction practice. It was first used by auction houses to help offset costs of running brick and mortar permanent auction facilities. Since then, it has spread to all aspects of the auction industry. It is prominent in online auctions and allows auction companies to cover added expenses incurred from online sales.

It is the responsibility of the auction company to provide clear disclosure of the buyer’s premium to both the buyers and the sellers. Those not familiar with auctions are often taken back by the buyer’s premium. They looked upon it as an under handed way for the auction company to make more money. Reputable auction companies will provide full disclosure within the auction contract, advertisement and bidder registration.

Typically, an auction company will charge online buyers a higher buyer’s premium percentage than those attending an auction in person. Extra fees are incurred with online bidding and are charged accordingly to online buyers. This provides the seller a level playing field for both online buyers and those attending the auction in person. Without the buyer’s premium, there is no way to do this.

Pre-Sales:

We’ve all been there. We’re looking forward to attending an auction only to find that some items were sold prior to the auction date.

As an auctioneer with over thirty-six years of experience, I can honestly state that pre-sales will hurt an auction. When a company decides to liquidate their assets, it is easy to sell off high-end pieces of equipment through online sources, equipment vendors or to other businesses. The seller receives instant cash and avoids paying a commission to an auction company.

Auctioneer’s find themselves appearing to acting in a self-serving capacity when potential clients say they are planning to sell off parts of their inventory prior to an auction. It’s hard not to consider the auctioneer’s commission when they warn you not to pre-sell anything. Yes, the auctioneer wants to earn a commission on those sales but it is more important that the auctioneer protect the sale from potential negative backlash that comes from pre-selling. The buying public knows when an auction has been “cherry picked” prior to the sale and it reflects in their bidding. It becomes a sale of “leftovers” and that impacts prices.

A buyer who purchases prior to the auction usually does not attend the sale. They already bought equipment at a good price with no competition. If they do attend the auction, they tend to let others know of their great pre-sale purchases which again, impacts prices and the overall excitement of the sale.

It is important to understand that auctions work best with a complete inventory. You want competition on your higher end equipment. The easy to sell items make it possible to gain respectable prices for hard to sell items.

When a business owner decides to liquidate their equipment assets, there is only one opportunity to do it right. Hiring a reputable auction company will assist you with a professional, orderly and timely liquidation.

If you’re reading this article you are probably looking into starting a home based business in the network marketing arena. Know that this my personal view on how to choose a MLM company from my past experiences. When I started my home based business I wish I would’ve researched the MLM industry and how to choose a company before joining. As I look back, this is some valuable information I wish someone would’ve passed on to me. If you are looking in to network marketing as a career, I hope this article assist you in choosing and starting your home based business right.Starting A Home Based Business Tip #1: Research the founder of the company and figure out where the founder/s originated from, have they had other successful businesses before? What’s their vision in life and the business? Where is the company based out of and do they have in-house manufacturing for the product that they sell? As I looked into my company these were question that had to find out and get answers to quick.Starting A Home Based Business Tip #2: What is the MLM companies history, do they have a proven success record?, Are they traded publicly?, Any third-party validation?, What are the annual sales? Do they have any “best something” award from third parties? and how successful are other associates?If yes, it shows that they have a great track record and the company is more than likely to keep on keeping on.Starting A Home Based Business Tip #3: Does the company take action in empowering others, educating or helping out the community in the local areas. Do they support any non-profit organization?To me this means that the company cares for others and is not too business oriented.It’s great to be able to participate in helping others in any way possible and knowing that they are involved as well is a plus.Starting A Home Based Business Tip #4: Having third-party accolades is great, for instance a best of state award, best nutrition, or best service for “X” year, athlete accolades and even anniversary accolades.Having accolades are important for edification for a new prospect. They come in handy, it also shows prove they are legit.Starting A Home Based Business Tip #5: Making sure the company is in social media is important to me, it shows that the company is actively marketing in different ways as well getting known in social media groups, most network marketing companies don’t advertise, but by being in social media it cuts advertising cost by millions which equals to more money, bonuses and incentives for the reps as they keep succeeding in their home based business.Starting A Home Based Business Tip #6: Best way to sift and sort companies I have discovered is first, figuring out what kind of product relate to me the most (electronic, on-line service, clothing, mobile, nutritionals etc…), second look into only those companies and go over the tips above and third, choose the company your going with and stay there. Before you do that go and “sponsor shop”. Seek out a great leader in the company, one that implements great off-line and on-line strategies like attraction marketing. In closing my friend, just do your homework. I hope the “Starting A Home Based Business Tips” above helped you in your journey to choosing the right MLM company.

The trend towards creating a home based business is not a novel concept. During the last few years, more and more people have sought a solution to the rising threats of unemployment, long commutes and unbalanced family life that traditional business and full-time employment brings. Everyone understands that they need to generate an income but many are now becoming more creative in how they achieve this objective.

Creating a home based business is often seen as the solution to this challenge. A home based business gives the person more control over their time and allows them the freedom to work around family commitments and personal preferences. In the case of some parents, it allows them to spend more time with their children and arrange their work so they can be a more engaged parent. In other cases, it allows the person to live in the location of their choice without having to settle for a location simply because their job demands this from them.

However, moving from employment to a home based business is a huge move. The person needs to understand technical and computing issues, business law, banking requirements, business taxation, marketing as well as the details of the particular business that they are entering into. It is for these reasons that many who are in the process of researching home based businesses are attracted by a home based business franchise. Some people sometimes refer to this concept as a ‘business in a box’. A home based business franchise is typically internet based, but not always. It basically outlines the steps that the newbie buying the franchise or the opportunity needs to take to get started and to create a successful business. In most cases there’s a step by step training guide that shows the person exactly what needs to be learned. This is often in the form of videos, webinars, or simple instructions. At a time when there are countless other tasks for the new business owner to master, a home based business franchise aims to simplify the business part as much as possible.

Typically there is often a forum within these groups. The forum allows everyone to communicate freely, ask questions, give recommendations and post comments. It is invaluable to a new person setting up a business to have this level of support and to have a dedicated resource where their many questions can be answered. The person’s learning curve is extremely steep during this time and a community like this can speed up the learning process. It helps the newbie avoid the mistakes and possible pitfalls of those that have already gone through the process. In addition, they often have physical events where all members meet up and exchange information and successful strategies. This is a far cry from the experience of those who don’t take the home based business franchise route. It is much more difficult to gain momentum when you literally have to create everything from scratch. In many cases, the business owners who do this are ‘reinventing the wheel’ and often times get caught in the ‘busy’ trap. This is when they are extremely busy but aren’t focussed on income producing activities.

In addition, a home based business franchise often provides marketing templates, sales assistance, mindset training, supplier discounts and updated software. Although the costs of these are covered in the initial fee and in the monthly subscriptions, they certainly make it easier for the new member to become more successful in a shorter timeframe.

From my own experience, when I decided that I wanted to move from my traditional business as a business coach to a home based business, I was very focussed on finding a home based business franchise. I loved the work that I was doing as a business coach – training teams, coaching business owners and creating marketing campaigns for my clients. However, I was driving over a thousand miles a week, working extremely long days and constantly stressed out due to poor diet and lack of exercise. I decided that I wanted to be home based while still doing the type of work that I loved. One of the opportunities that allowed me to do that was YourNetBiz. In addition to the mentoring from my YourNetBiz sponsor, this system provided the step-by-step framework to get started. It provided the products, taught me about online marketing and it continues to provide leading edge support, software and community interaction.