Accounting Basics

I have a couple of horror stories that came about due to my previous employer, an entreprenuer, who decided to let his new wife take over book keeping. She was not very bright to say the least and certainly not qualified to handle book keeping. I was working in Las Vegas I was the supervisor over four schools that were on the books at the time. the way it worked out was I would spend most of my time on the school that was in full production. The other schools were either finishing up(punch list) or preparing to start (show up to do a little here and there). I was being paid prevailing wage non-union. I would dispatch employees from the union hall and lay off as needed for different phases of different projects. The union employees had a benefits package that was paid monthly by the employer: a vacation fund that was kept in a credit union, and a retirement and health benefits that was paid to the union itself. One day Victor comes to me and said that he wrote all of these checks using the credit union and they all bounced which accrued several nsf fees. Most people had a regular bank to do banking but Victor used his credit union as his normal bank. I had the B.A. out visiting me the next day. It turned out that not only had the vacation fund not been replenished , but non of the benefits package was paid either, for any of the Protec union employees in Las Vegas. Victor was my friend and now I was caught in the middle of Protecs stupidity and the union which was ready to walk off the job. The general contractor got word of it and now it became a huge mess and the only one down there to deal with evil glares was me.
Next story, the blundering book keeper turned in miss matching w4's to the IRS mine wich didn't match my pay stubs. The company goes out of business while I'm trying to get this all straightened out. I end up getting a bill from the IRS for $30,000 dollars and threat of lean on my house within 20 days. Fortunately I had all of my pay stubs and w2 forms to prove the discrepencies and actually got money back after it was all said and done.

Dot Com To Dot Bomb

I was not involved in technology during the .com bust, but I did make alot of money indirictly. I was in construction working down in vancouver washington. The project was SEH. It was a japanese company that grew wafers for nintendo. This project was huge. It lasted about 3 yrs and as soon as it completed the dot com crash happened. The company never moved into the final phase of the project. The project was a two phase project each phase was a building. After completing the first phase the company moved in I was still coming into the building to complete punch list issues. about half way through phase 2 the punch list items of phase 1 were complete. So basically SEH occupied their building for about a year and a half. We also worked on some buildings for Nintendo in Hillsboro Oregon as well.
Another interesting thing that happened during the crash was auctions from dot com liquidations. I went to an auction in Bellevue the auction company was the ?.?.Murphy company out of Kenmore. The environment was so chaotic that a friend of mine paid $100 for a deskjet printer that he could have gotten at re-pc for $20. I think Murphy was the only one making money.

Ron Kornfeld five steps to writing a business plan

When I first listened to the lecture I for some reason I heard things wrong. I had it in my head that he was saying that companies wanted a short concise business plan, but after writing a business plan myself I now realize that he was talking about the executive summary.The area that impressed me the most about Ron was that he had looked at so many business plans. He definitely made a strong point about the importance of having a quality business plan. Prior to taking this class I didn't even know what a business plan was. I at one time had my own business coulking tilt up warehouses that lasted all of about eight months. My brother in law and I were partners all it cost was $500 worth of equipment that I bought from my uncle and he also gave me his list of contacts. All we had to do was put up a bond in order to get credit from suppliers and go from jobsite to jobsite and under bid the competition and we were on our way. I remeber one time this general contractor was too lazy to put some asphalt emulsion on on 1 wall of his building that was butted up against a hill so after I caulked the seams about four feet up the wall so they could back fill, he offered to supply materials if I would roll on this emulsion on the wall. I said I'll do it for $500 mainly because I didn't want to do it but he accepted so I got paid $500 for 2hrs worth of work. Getting back to my point we did have to give a portfolio of jobs that we had done when we bid on work from foushe and associates. That was the closest thing I'd seen to a business plan.

break down of employees

THE ESTIMATIONATOR
OFFICERS:
CEO/50% OWNER
COO/20% OWNER
MARKETING/10%
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT/10%
SOFTWARE/10%
SALES:
2 MANAGERS
5 SALES REPS/CUSTOMER SERVICE
RECEPTIONIST
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT:
1 MANAGER
4 SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
1 WEB DEVELOPER
4 TECH SUPPORT

Michele Armstrong

I thought she was a very good guest speaker. She had everything laid out nicely and was able to complete her topics. This was by far the most useful for all of us who are going to be entering the job market in the near future. She changed my views on how to approach my job search. Prior to her presentation I didn't think Craigs List was a valid medium for finding a job. Before pursuing a career in IT I was in construction, so the advice she gave on how to approach the job search in IT was more than helpful to me. Another avenue that came as a suprise to me was using Twitter as part of my job search. She gave good insights on how to prepare for and interview ie."give and example of how you dealt with this situation." Negotiating salaries was another area that I was unsure of and I think she did a great job of explaining all the variable issues that are involved in negotiating.
I didn't realize that a healthy company has turnover. This is good news for us who are entering the job market. I'm feeling much better about the job forecast around the time I graduate, since she said that companies are now hiring recruiters.The eagerness vs agressiveness was also very helpful, I'm and eager kinda guy and it helps to stay in balance. After taking this class in general I'm thinking seriously about going into business for myself eventually. She covered alot of issues from an entreprenuer perspective that I felt were very useful in dealing with employees and covering your ass legally. The employee training and handbook's are a great idea for ensuring the company's protection.

Derek Young/quiz

Estimated questions to guest speakers: 20

I really liked the dialog the class had with Derek Young. As far as a well organized presentation... I don't think so. As far as interesting, I think he was the most interesting of all the guest speakers. I believe that the questions that were asked by me and my classmates pulled out the most interesting points of the presentation. When the lecture started, it seemed like there was alot of distractions due to him being soft spoken and the loud hallway noise coming in from the open door. I don't know if its just me, but it seems that most of the guest speakers try to stay vague when it comes to facts and figures about their own business ie. revenues. Derek was no exception. I think if he would have just given the presentation in his format, he would have talked about the products themselves and left out all of his personality attributes and struggles that I think is his most interesting attribute.
I have been wondering how various websites generated revenues other than obvious advertisements and product sales. I never considered the idea of personal networking as is demonstrated by Dereks websites. It's absolutely amazing that based on word of mouth Suite 133 has two fortune 500 clients. I think Derek is a great example for why anyone would want to be and entreprenuer demonstrated in the way Suite 133 has turned out. He likes everything laid back. I asked if there was unlimited printing and his response was basically we run everything on the honor system "just leave money in the jar" if you feel like you've over-run your share.Where else can a person set the laid back low stress environment like that?... just be the owner.
I reviewed his website, exit133.com, and was impressed with the vision for exposing Tacoma to the community. One of the things that's going to change peoples perspective of Tacoma is when they get rid of the pulp mill. This morning on my way in from Puyallup on I-5 I could smell the "aroma of Tacoma" though rare it's still there Ironically it was at exit 133 that I smelled it.
I like the way he discussed the differences in philosophy regarding getting extra operating capital between him and his partners. When he first came in he said they were a debt free company which I thought made a huge statement like "look at us we did it without selling our soul's to mafia". I believe that the partner who came from the family owned business has been key in keeping those freedoms alive. I would say that maybe using a little extra finances to get through a bad month in order to keep employees around is not unreasonable, but I think if it weren't for that partner, I don't think Derek could boast of them being a debt free company like he did at the beginning of class.

Bruce Kendall

I thought the dialog that happened during his presentation went well. the class seemed to keep him busy with questions through his presentation and I think he needed an extra half hour to thoroughly cover the issues in depth. I am impressed with his accomplishments regarding the rebuilding of Tacoma. I found it interesting to know that I didn't know about the golf course built over and old strip mine causing me to wonder about the quality of advertising the city is lacking. Rome wasn't built in a day but if it were me... I would really push for public (Puget Sound) awareness of the hidden features in Tacoma.
It's easy to be a critic so why not go with it. I think there is a diamond in the ruff when you consider the Port of Tacoma. If I were trying to build up the employment rate in Tacoma, that would be my priority. I don't have facts off the top of my head about the amount of jobs created by the Port of Seattle, but I'm sure it is extreme. When you consider that Seattle wouldn't even be on the map if it weren't for it being a port town in the first place. Also consider the aroma of Tacoma I would say if Tacoma changed its reputation to being a port town vs a pulp mill would also be helpful.
I went down to Gig Harbor a couple of weeks ago to have warranty work done on my guitar. The only other time I've ever been to Gig Harbor is when I had a bad sailing experience with a friend of mine wich involved being sucked into the strong currents of the narrows because of no wind and a broken motor. We ended up getting a tow into Gig Harbor from a passing boat. Then we had to deal with the public humiliation of having another friend of mine towing us back to Point Defiance with his jetski prompting a standing ovation from the patrons of a local bar as we were pulling out of the harbor. I didn't realize what a nice little town Gig Harbor was. In my opinion it may even be more appealing than Friday Harbor. My point, I like the direction Bruce is going with the water front in Tacoma and I think Gig Harbor is the model to emulate.

John Dimmer

Well unfortunately I missed the lecture, but, I did go through several of the blogs to kind of get the feeling for what was covered.I went ahead and found the article "how to Negotiate a Term Sheet" online and read it. One point that I found to be very important in the article was the issue of reverse vesting. When you talk in class you've mentioned that you want to see how much money the entreprenuer is investing in his/her own business.You've basically have said "put your money where your mouth is" to people you've dealt with in putting together". I agree that if an entreprenuer wants to go to venture capitolists for money that it's not unreasonable for the VC to expect some risk from the founder and to want to keep him involved in the company for the long haul by keeping the thing that is close to his heart..his/her money!! Another issue that comes to my mind is the risk the company is taking when going to a VC. It seems that the owner stands to lose a lot of control when he gets in bed with these guys, and it also seems that for all the time it takes to finally get money out of them...isn't worth the hastle. I guess if it takes months to get a contract signed and nothing gets done in August or December, I wonder why someone would want to "kiss that much ass" when your company is already functional without them.

Jon Goodman

I can't believe she's 70+ years old... she's got the energy of a 20yr old!!! I thought she was the best speaker so far. I never really thought that an entreprenuer wasn't in it for the money until she talked about the CEO of Costco and Steve Jobbs. I guess it didn't click until she talked about it. I've heard it before but I took it with a grain of salt. I don't know what she meant with the business plan idea of not using templates. I think the other speaker conviced me that a structured business plan was a must... so I'll go with him.
I thought she had very useful advise starting with the feasability analysis. I thought there were two keys in this one was fear of failure and analysis paralysis that struck me the most. I also didn't know that there were veteran enteprenuers that would be willing to offer advise and time for a hope of compensation once the business was profitable. I like the idea of getting seasoned professionals involved in the business itself. another idea that she had was to take 20% of your gross wages to save enough money to start a business plus the idea of learning a job that you might want to start a business in. I also like the way she broke down the nine year cutting edge business plan where it's three years of growth three years of plateau and three years of decline and making sure you get out before the decline.

Strengths and Weaknesses

1) I know the construction industry
2) I know how to program
3) I know how to estimate fireproofing
4) I know how to read blueprints
5) I know how to communicate with architects
6) I have a friend who is currently bidding projects and can help me out in learning other areas of construction bidding
7) I know how to B.S. my way into getting bid results
8) I know how to get information from product reps
9) My previous boss was an entreprenuer and can be very helpful
10) I can usually find people who are experts in their trade

1) I'm lazy, I've been told by many that I'll get others to do the work I don't like to do
2) I procrastinate at times, like now I'm writing this blog at the last minute
3) I can get angry
4) I get hyper when I get behind and everyone around me gets to enjoy the stress
5) I can get bossy
6) I'm gruff

A Sensible Approach To Writing A Business Plan

I thought this article was very informative. Practically everything in this article was new to me. The only thing I knew about a business was the basic business concept and how much investment capitol I would need, what my competion was, and how many employees it would take. I would have never thought about an exit strategy or to report on how much money was raised to date. I would have given far too many details about my vision and very little detail about sales/revenue generation and finances. I think the layout template presented in this article is definitely going to be a big help in devising my business plan.

Entrepreneurship

I found the article very interesting, but I don't agree with a couple of points made. I don't agree that an entrepreneur stays focused on one road. I don't think that an entrepreneur is going to ignore an awesome business oppurtunity because he focused on his business plan alone. In fact my previous boss was an entrepreneur and he always had other irons on the fire. Another point where I disagree, is defining someone who is looking for "valuation" as not being an entreprenuer. There are several successful entreprenuers who are interested in buying and selling companies. Isn't the buying and selling of businesses a business itself?

My five business plans are:
1) software that will notify a person by email when an item they're looking for on Craigslist at a maximum price since items go quick when they are posted. also the software would work for ebay when an auction is within an hour of closing. This way a person wouldn't have the risk of getting locked into a bid on one item.
2) According to newspaper article I read in Starbucks, there has been a interest in 3D TV programming due to the success of Avatar. I propose a plan that would use computer aided graphics to turn 2D shows into 3D similar to whats already being done with 3D animation this is would be a close to the same idea when companies started adding color to old black and white movies.
3) Construction estimating software that would account for lineal and square foot material costs and average installation manhours for each phase of the project.
4) Go one step further provide an estimating service using said software and providing information for smaller companies who don't have the resources or time to hire a full time estimator. We would provide competent bids. We could also provide a generic contracts with appropriate addendums specific to that company ie: general contractor will provide forklift for stocking materials. We could also provide pricing and even submit contractor approved bids according to plans and specs.
5)create a remote control device that will start a car from 2000 ft away so that it will be warm and defrosted by the time you go out to the car. The unit in the car would also have timer option that would turn the car on and off throughout the day if necessary for extreme cold environmental conditions.

welcome to my blog

just thought I'd throw my hat in the blogosphere HELLO WORLD!!