Mr Vintage Ltd
Introduction
Mr Vintage is an Auckland clothing company which specialises in Pop Culture and Vintage style t-shirts. While the bulk of their business is thru www.mrvintage.co.nz they also have a retail store in Parnell, Auckland. From small online beginnings Mr. Vintage has grown to be extremely popular in NZ.
History
Mr Vintage was started by founder Robert Ewan in 2004. Annoyed at the lack of good t-shirts available he decided to import Vintage and Pop Culture designs from the USA. Based on the auction website TradeMe.co.nz his little side earner grew and grew. They became a very successful trader thru the auction site selling at least 100-200K p.a. They expanded to a website and now actually do not sell on TradeMe, only through their website. From a one man band operating thru TradeMe auctions, Mr Vintage now employs 3 staff located in their Parnell store.
Products
The core lines are printed T-Shirts with Vintage style prints. They have an extensive range of pop culture designs from the USA covering movies, music, old Tv shows, and movie stars. Some examples include the Beatles, Terminator and the Godfather. Also extremely popular are their locally designed Kiwiana t-shirts with designs such as "Keep New Zealand Beautiful" and the Commenwealth Games "NZZN designs".
Quality of Tees
We have found the quality of both the Blank T-shirts and the screenprinting to be very high quality. Even after lots of washes the shirts hold their shape and the print stays intact. We recommend checking them out!
Mr Vintage can be found online at: www.mrvintage.co.nz
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Review - Rich Dad, Poor Dad Book by Robert Kiyosaki
Robert Kiyosaki is a extremely well-known financial guru from the USA. His major claim to fame was to author the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" which is one of the most popular and best selling business books of all time. The book has sold over 26 million copies and has been on the New York Times bestseller lists for over 6 years.
If you haven't already I highly recommend reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It is a story about Robert and his 2 fathers, one is real father and the other a friends father. The book discusses their 2 different approaches to the subject of money and the effect both viewpoints had on him from childhood. The book is real wakeup call to most people as its main premise is the "Rich do not work for money, the rich have their money work for them.
The full title of the book is: Rich Dad, Poor Dad. What the rich teach their kids that the poor and middle class do not.
The title sets the scene for the book and there is a strong emphasis on education is the book. There are many mantras repeated throughout the book such as:
Instead of saying "I can't afford it" Say "How can I afford it?
By saying "I can't afford it" instantly stops your mind from working on solving the probelm. Asking "How can I afford it" puts your mind to work.
"The Rich Don't Work from money, The Rich have their money work for them"
Essentially this means that the Rich do not trade hours of their time for money. Very few people can ever get rich simply working in a job. The rich have their money work for them in businesses and investments so that they do not physically have to work. The rich also use many forms of "Leverage" which is the ability to do more with less. Such Leverage through OPT, Other Peoples Time and OPM other peoples money.
Other books in the series written by Robert Kiyoskai are: Rich Dads Cashflow Quadrant, Rich Dad's Guide to investing, Rich dad's Rich Kid Smart Kid, Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich, Rich Dad's Prophecy, Rich Dad's Success Stories, Rich Dad's Who took my money.
Auckland, New Zealand
If you haven't already I highly recommend reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It is a story about Robert and his 2 fathers, one is real father and the other a friends father. The book discusses their 2 different approaches to the subject of money and the effect both viewpoints had on him from childhood. The book is real wakeup call to most people as its main premise is the "Rich do not work for money, the rich have their money work for them.
The full title of the book is: Rich Dad, Poor Dad. What the rich teach their kids that the poor and middle class do not.
The title sets the scene for the book and there is a strong emphasis on education is the book. There are many mantras repeated throughout the book such as:
Instead of saying "I can't afford it" Say "How can I afford it?
By saying "I can't afford it" instantly stops your mind from working on solving the probelm. Asking "How can I afford it" puts your mind to work.
"The Rich Don't Work from money, The Rich have their money work for them"
Essentially this means that the Rich do not trade hours of their time for money. Very few people can ever get rich simply working in a job. The rich have their money work for them in businesses and investments so that they do not physically have to work. The rich also use many forms of "Leverage" which is the ability to do more with less. Such Leverage through OPT, Other Peoples Time and OPM other peoples money.
Other books in the series written by Robert Kiyoskai are: Rich Dads Cashflow Quadrant, Rich Dad's Guide to investing, Rich dad's Rich Kid Smart Kid, Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich, Rich Dad's Prophecy, Rich Dad's Success Stories, Rich Dad's Who took my money.
Auckland, New Zealand
Review - Presidential Inner Circle
Presidential Inner Circle is a company under the Richmastery umbrella. The PIC is a private club that provides unique experiences for their members with a success and business focus. Some of their events include Lunches with the worlds top business people and celebrities, Ferrrari/Porsche days and other one-off special elite events.
The club looks like a lot of fun with a good variety of events to cater to a wide a range of tastes. Membership cost is in the $10,000 region. Which I think is quite reasonable considering some of the heavyweights they have secured in their first year such as Richard Branson, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.
They run a range of events with internationals celebrities as well as local events with local business people and personalities such as Grant Dalton, Dean Barker, Michael Hill, Ian Taylor.
Essentially the group is just a networking opportunity for wealthy/success minded people but obviously the deals you can strike can be worth a significant amount. The other purpose of the group is to provide elite experiences not available anywhere else. The kind of events that other a select few people will ever attand. You have to be a person of stature, famous or personally know the celebrities but Inner circle groups the world over are meeting the need of very successful people to network and socialise with like-minded people.
The club looks like a lot of fun with a good variety of events to cater to a wide a range of tastes. Membership cost is in the $10,000 region. Which I think is quite reasonable considering some of the heavyweights they have secured in their first year such as Richard Branson, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton.
They run a range of events with internationals celebrities as well as local events with local business people and personalities such as Grant Dalton, Dean Barker, Michael Hill, Ian Taylor.
Essentially the group is just a networking opportunity for wealthy/success minded people but obviously the deals you can strike can be worth a significant amount. The other purpose of the group is to provide elite experiences not available anywhere else. The kind of events that other a select few people will ever attand. You have to be a person of stature, famous or personally know the celebrities but Inner circle groups the world over are meeting the need of very successful people to network and socialise with like-minded people.
Review - Subway
Lots of New Restaurnants
I thought it a good time to give a review on Subway Restaurants. In the area I live there seems to be more and more restaurnats opening per suburb. Sometimes several in the same suburban street! One of the the worlds most successful and well known franchises, Subway has literally taken the world by storm. Now with over 28,000 Restaurants in 86 countries including 197 in New Zealand.
Eat Fresh
The menu at Subway has always been funny to me. I would go thru stages of buying Subway 3 times a week then go thru periods of not eating it for months because I didn't like the last time I ate it. Subway can leave a funny taste in your mouth (no pun intended). Their mantra is of course "Eat Fresh" and while the food looks fresh, it looks very uniform and possibly processed.
Genetic Engineering
In New Zealand there was an item on the news several years ago that Subways baker Yarrows used GE wheat in their bread. Subway do promote in each store now that their bread is baked fresh daily on site. But baking dosen't necessarliy mean they make the actual dough. So I assume that Yarrows stil make thedough and each store "bakes" as in puts the dough in the overn every day. So I believe that their bread still contains GE wheat. Their vegetables are all so uniform it makes you wonder if they are GE as well to get the consistency.
Business Model
As a business model though I believe a Subway franchise would be quite a good money spinner. A typical Sub costs around $8.00. The ingredients to make that can't be more than $4.00
Auckland, New Zealand
I thought it a good time to give a review on Subway Restaurants. In the area I live there seems to be more and more restaurnats opening per suburb. Sometimes several in the same suburban street! One of the the worlds most successful and well known franchises, Subway has literally taken the world by storm. Now with over 28,000 Restaurants in 86 countries including 197 in New Zealand.
Eat Fresh
The menu at Subway has always been funny to me. I would go thru stages of buying Subway 3 times a week then go thru periods of not eating it for months because I didn't like the last time I ate it. Subway can leave a funny taste in your mouth (no pun intended). Their mantra is of course "Eat Fresh" and while the food looks fresh, it looks very uniform and possibly processed.
Genetic Engineering
In New Zealand there was an item on the news several years ago that Subways baker Yarrows used GE wheat in their bread. Subway do promote in each store now that their bread is baked fresh daily on site. But baking dosen't necessarliy mean they make the actual dough. So I assume that Yarrows stil make thedough and each store "bakes" as in puts the dough in the overn every day. So I believe that their bread still contains GE wheat. Their vegetables are all so uniform it makes you wonder if they are GE as well to get the consistency.
Business Model
As a business model though I believe a Subway franchise would be quite a good money spinner. A typical Sub costs around $8.00. The ingredients to make that can't be more than $4.00
Auckland, New Zealand
Review - Auckland Property Investors Expo
November 2007, Auckland Showgrounds
I attended the Auckland Property Investors Expo on day 1. I was expecting a little more from a prestigious sounding event. The expo was extremely small and I would have thought there would be more exhibitors and patronage. A possible reason for the small scale is the fact that the property boom and surrounding hype has died down stopping Property Investing from being investing flavour of the month. At least to Mom and Dad investors.
The first seminar I attended was the Ron Hoy Fong hour. Ron has been featured on many Investing programs on TV and he is a well known Richmastery Graduate. I have always liked Ron Hoy Fong after meeting him at a Richmastery seminar. He expressed some insightful concepts about the property cycle. In particular he talked about the wave of property price rises during the last boom in Auckland. He says that in the last 2 year boom period, the first rise of prices in Aucklands Central suburbs (Parnell, Mt Eden etc) took 2 years for those same rises to hit the outermost Auckland suburbs like Pukekohe. Essentially a ripple effect of prices rises, from the CBD, outwards in all directions. It is a very intriguing concept.
The next seminar I went to was a short presentation by GRA (Gilligan Rowe and Associates). They discussed Propert Investing Structures such as trusts and LAQC companies. They also covered tax minimisation techniques. I had seen the bulk of a standard GRA presentation before so the info was nothing knew but they have some interesting insights on immigration and property price rises.
I attended a presenation by How2 which seem to be an amateur developers advisory service. They talked alot of about different ways to develop property and how to assess possible development options prior to purchasing a property. I was alittle confused at how their business works but from what I understood they sell software to help you manage the development process and run a few seminars for more intensive techniques.
Hotspace was an interior design agency. Essentially they send a consultant around to the property you'd like to sell and advise on various design aspects that could be applied to give the property a lift in preparation for selling to obtain a higher price. Their before and after hptos did show dramatic improvements in interior and exterior changes which really did lift the appeal of the properties. Hotspace are not contractors or project managers, simply just consultants that come in and advise on how to decorate.
Sue Tierney, President of the Auckland Property Investors Association was up next to talk about her mortgage broking business Mortgages by Design. She had some interesting takes on banks and how they assess loan applicants. She explained the ratios they apply to applications such as (LVR) Loan to Value and (UCM) Uncommitted Monthly Income. She also fielded lots of questions from audience members on aspects of mortgage broking fitting their personal circumstances.
Sue also spoke in the next section about the Auckland Property Investors Association and the benefits to be gained by joining. Quite a convincing presentation and I know of a few people that signed up. Essentially the networking and industry news aspect of belonging to an association are great selling points.
All in all the Expo I found to be vsmaller than I expected and light on good content. It With 2 seminar rooms they were only ever each half full. I suppose the expo was really just a showcase of the support businesses to the private mom and Dad investors market.
Auckland, New Zealand
I attended the Auckland Property Investors Expo on day 1. I was expecting a little more from a prestigious sounding event. The expo was extremely small and I would have thought there would be more exhibitors and patronage. A possible reason for the small scale is the fact that the property boom and surrounding hype has died down stopping Property Investing from being investing flavour of the month. At least to Mom and Dad investors.
The first seminar I attended was the Ron Hoy Fong hour. Ron has been featured on many Investing programs on TV and he is a well known Richmastery Graduate. I have always liked Ron Hoy Fong after meeting him at a Richmastery seminar. He expressed some insightful concepts about the property cycle. In particular he talked about the wave of property price rises during the last boom in Auckland. He says that in the last 2 year boom period, the first rise of prices in Aucklands Central suburbs (Parnell, Mt Eden etc) took 2 years for those same rises to hit the outermost Auckland suburbs like Pukekohe. Essentially a ripple effect of prices rises, from the CBD, outwards in all directions. It is a very intriguing concept.
The next seminar I went to was a short presentation by GRA (Gilligan Rowe and Associates). They discussed Propert Investing Structures such as trusts and LAQC companies. They also covered tax minimisation techniques. I had seen the bulk of a standard GRA presentation before so the info was nothing knew but they have some interesting insights on immigration and property price rises.
I attended a presenation by How2 which seem to be an amateur developers advisory service. They talked alot of about different ways to develop property and how to assess possible development options prior to purchasing a property. I was alittle confused at how their business works but from what I understood they sell software to help you manage the development process and run a few seminars for more intensive techniques.
Hotspace was an interior design agency. Essentially they send a consultant around to the property you'd like to sell and advise on various design aspects that could be applied to give the property a lift in preparation for selling to obtain a higher price. Their before and after hptos did show dramatic improvements in interior and exterior changes which really did lift the appeal of the properties. Hotspace are not contractors or project managers, simply just consultants that come in and advise on how to decorate.
Sue Tierney, President of the Auckland Property Investors Association was up next to talk about her mortgage broking business Mortgages by Design. She had some interesting takes on banks and how they assess loan applicants. She explained the ratios they apply to applications such as (LVR) Loan to Value and (UCM) Uncommitted Monthly Income. She also fielded lots of questions from audience members on aspects of mortgage broking fitting their personal circumstances.
Sue also spoke in the next section about the Auckland Property Investors Association and the benefits to be gained by joining. Quite a convincing presentation and I know of a few people that signed up. Essentially the networking and industry news aspect of belonging to an association are great selling points.
All in all the Expo I found to be vsmaller than I expected and light on good content. It With 2 seminar rooms they were only ever each half full. I suppose the expo was really just a showcase of the support businesses to the private mom and Dad investors market.
Auckland, New Zealand
Review - Fastway Couriers
Worst Courier Company in New Zealand
Fastway Couriers have got to be the worst courier company we have ever dealt with. Their customer serivce is the absolute pits. I really do wonder how they have survived at all. I suppose because they are probably the cheapest courier service around. They seem to win lots of awards for franchising. Easy to sell a franchise, hard to run the business well.
Whenever we had an issue with a delivery that had gone missing. I.e. a customer complains that their order hasn't arrived yetr. We would ring the office and sometimes it would take us about 6 attempts over 2 days jsut to speak to an actual person, let alone get even close to resolving the issue.
This wasn't a one-off incident. Everytime we had an issue with a delivery we would ring them. If you were able to speak to a person within 3 attempts over the day it was a good day. All the while you're customer is asking you what is happening, where is my order!
Once you actually speak to a person you'd think your problems would be sorted but its just the beginning. The staff or better still the systems are rubbish and it takes about 3 days to get an answer. Not good enought for a business that wins all these supposed franchise awards. Franchise awards are for good systems, and Fastway couriers is rubbish. Now don't get me wrong we haven't sampled any other office, other that Auckland main head office. But hey, in the businest office you'd expect the fastest result. They need to hire more staff but are obviously trying to cut costs
Review - PBT Couriers
PBT Couriers Auckland
After giving such a bad review about Fastway Auckland, I need to offer an alternative! PBT are the best courier service we have used. Reasonable Pricing, Signature Delivery and some of the best courier customer service around.
Background
The company was started as Peter Baker Transport in 1972 by Peter Baker. Originally a trucking company they added the courier arm in the late 90s. PBT Couriers have grown to be a major player in the National Courier market.
Online Package Tracking
PBT have a comprehensive online tracking systems where you can track the progress on your package on its way to you. You are given a tracking number and each time the package changes hands (ie from pickup driver to depot, from depot to truck) the operator will scan the barcode on the package. Each time the barcode is scanned the transfer shows up on the online tracking record. This way you can see the exact times when the package moved thru each stage in transit.
Customer Service
On the odd occasion we need to check up on a delivery the PBT staff are always great to talk to. And hey you can actually speak to someone on your first call! They have the systems in place to deal with an query. Their online tracking systems are excellent and you can actually see each change of hands with the package. Not just the latest change like on the "Courier Post" Website.
Also when a staff member follows up on a delivery for you, they stick to their word and do call you back. They really do go out of their way to help!
I highly recommend looking at using PBT Couriers if you are sending 5 or more packages per day!
Auckland, New Zealand
After giving such a bad review about Fastway Auckland, I need to offer an alternative! PBT are the best courier service we have used. Reasonable Pricing, Signature Delivery and some of the best courier customer service around.
Background
The company was started as Peter Baker Transport in 1972 by Peter Baker. Originally a trucking company they added the courier arm in the late 90s. PBT Couriers have grown to be a major player in the National Courier market.
Online Package Tracking
PBT have a comprehensive online tracking systems where you can track the progress on your package on its way to you. You are given a tracking number and each time the package changes hands (ie from pickup driver to depot, from depot to truck) the operator will scan the barcode on the package. Each time the barcode is scanned the transfer shows up on the online tracking record. This way you can see the exact times when the package moved thru each stage in transit.
Customer Service
On the odd occasion we need to check up on a delivery the PBT staff are always great to talk to. And hey you can actually speak to someone on your first call! They have the systems in place to deal with an query. Their online tracking systems are excellent and you can actually see each change of hands with the package. Not just the latest change like on the "Courier Post" Website.
Also when a staff member follows up on a delivery for you, they stick to their word and do call you back. They really do go out of their way to help!
I highly recommend looking at using PBT Couriers if you are sending 5 or more packages per day!
Auckland, New Zealand
Review - New Zealand Herald
I had always wanted a subscription to the New Zealand Herald. I enjoyed reading it on weekends for years. I deceided to go the whole hog and subscribe to the daily service. It went well for about 3 months, then I started running out of time to read it all.
Then the bad news starting coming. Doom and Gloom. Not want you want to read when you are about to start the business day!
So I cancelled the subscription. Perhaps in boom market time I will re subscribe :)
Auckland, New Zealand
Then the bad news starting coming. Doom and Gloom. Not want you want to read when you are about to start the business day!
So I cancelled the subscription. Perhaps in boom market time I will re subscribe :)
Auckland, New Zealand
Review - Burger Fuel
Introduction
Burger Fuel is a gourmet Burger chain located in New Zealand. Aimed at the higher end of the fast food market prices for their burgers are typically $8-12, and a combo can set you back $17+. Burger Fuel has become extremely popular and now has 20 stores in New Zealand and 2 stores in Australia.
History
The concept was invented by founder Chris Mason in 1995. The first store opened in 1996 on Ponsonby Road. Soon 2 stores were operating with the second in Takapuna. Steadily they grew and now have 20 stores with at least 10 in Auckland and the rest in the North Island.
Food
While pricey, the food is extremely good. They use quality fresh ingredients and the burgers are a quite large. Generally you will be fine with just a burger. Burger and fries is a big effort. They are based on the Burger Wisconsin style with big buns and salad with relish. They have an extensive selection of Burgers with Fish, Chicken, 1/3 Pound Beef. They also have lots of vegetarian options and even Vegan options. Recently they have added Gluten Free Buns to their menu further extending their appeal.
They use their own special Garlic Aioli in their burgers and also as a condiment along with their chips.
The Business
Burger Fuel is run by the franchise model. Each store is independently owned by Franchisees under the head office. (except their 2 company owned stores, 1 in NZ 1 in Aus) Franchisees pay 6% of monthly turnover the head office and also contribute 4% of turnover towards a company wide marketing fund.
Going Public
Burger Fuel has recently gone public and listed on the NZAX Alternative exchange. Unfortunately their float was not as successful as they had hoped. This is for 2 main reasons.
1. The Shares Were Extremely Overpriced.
They were offering 25% of the company for 15 million dollars, valuing the company at 60 million. With no turnover! I believe the shares were at least 4 times overpriced possibly more. At 15 million the offer is stomachable. They have been singing the praises of it being a long-term growth stock which of course is the answer fools accept. They only managed to sell half of the 15 million shares on offer.
The share price opening at $1 is now around the 60c mark. Burger Fuel aggressively targeted their die-hard customers to purchase shares because they knew real investors wouldn't touch an overpriced risky stock with no earnings guidance. I feel sorry for the loyal "non business thinking" customers who shelled out their hard earned cash - $1000 minimum for 1000 shares thinking they were going to make moeney. Their "investment" is now worth $600. Would they still think Burger Fuel was so great? Its also a shame for the franchisees who independently run each store and of course bear the commercial brunt first hand of any customer backlash. Why rip off your best customers?
2. No Earnings Guidance.
To list they created a brand new company called Burger Fuel Worldwide Limited. This company is the head company that oversees the stores and holds the intellectual property. They do not own the 20 stores or the stores turnover. The directors would not give an indication of either turnover or when they would make a profit. If fact they mentioned that they would not make a profit for several years.
It's interesting because they only receive 6% of stores turnover. System wide sales were only 15 million during the 2006/2007 year so 6% of this figure would net the head company only $900,000 in turnover. Hardly great earnings for a $60 million dollar company as they suggest. These figures would give a Price to Sales ratio of 1.5%. Let alone Price to Earnings. They still need to cover all their costs out of that 900K including staff costs for all the extensive number of head office staff they profiled in their prospectus.
They would also receive a 4% marketing contribution from each store but this cannot be counted as income because a) it is to be spent of advertising and b) they shouldn't be making a profit off the marketing contribution fund. Their accounts would be scrutinised as they will be public knowledge. Not a good idea to rip off or under market the franchisees.
To make an decent money say $15 million in turnover for the head company (not 1.5 million) received from stores the system wide sales would need to be 150 million. And say 200 stores. Its a big jump to go from 20 stores to 200.
Now of course time will tell whether the shares turn out to be successful but I have my hunches the cream has been taken by the directors at IPO already.
Auckland, New Zealand
Burger Fuel is a gourmet Burger chain located in New Zealand. Aimed at the higher end of the fast food market prices for their burgers are typically $8-12, and a combo can set you back $17+. Burger Fuel has become extremely popular and now has 20 stores in New Zealand and 2 stores in Australia.
History
The concept was invented by founder Chris Mason in 1995. The first store opened in 1996 on Ponsonby Road. Soon 2 stores were operating with the second in Takapuna. Steadily they grew and now have 20 stores with at least 10 in Auckland and the rest in the North Island.
Food
While pricey, the food is extremely good. They use quality fresh ingredients and the burgers are a quite large. Generally you will be fine with just a burger. Burger and fries is a big effort. They are based on the Burger Wisconsin style with big buns and salad with relish. They have an extensive selection of Burgers with Fish, Chicken, 1/3 Pound Beef. They also have lots of vegetarian options and even Vegan options. Recently they have added Gluten Free Buns to their menu further extending their appeal.
They use their own special Garlic Aioli in their burgers and also as a condiment along with their chips.
The Business
Burger Fuel is run by the franchise model. Each store is independently owned by Franchisees under the head office. (except their 2 company owned stores, 1 in NZ 1 in Aus) Franchisees pay 6% of monthly turnover the head office and also contribute 4% of turnover towards a company wide marketing fund.
Going Public
Burger Fuel has recently gone public and listed on the NZAX Alternative exchange. Unfortunately their float was not as successful as they had hoped. This is for 2 main reasons.
1. The Shares Were Extremely Overpriced.
They were offering 25% of the company for 15 million dollars, valuing the company at 60 million. With no turnover! I believe the shares were at least 4 times overpriced possibly more. At 15 million the offer is stomachable. They have been singing the praises of it being a long-term growth stock which of course is the answer fools accept. They only managed to sell half of the 15 million shares on offer.
The share price opening at $1 is now around the 60c mark. Burger Fuel aggressively targeted their die-hard customers to purchase shares because they knew real investors wouldn't touch an overpriced risky stock with no earnings guidance. I feel sorry for the loyal "non business thinking" customers who shelled out their hard earned cash - $1000 minimum for 1000 shares thinking they were going to make moeney. Their "investment" is now worth $600. Would they still think Burger Fuel was so great? Its also a shame for the franchisees who independently run each store and of course bear the commercial brunt first hand of any customer backlash. Why rip off your best customers?
2. No Earnings Guidance.
To list they created a brand new company called Burger Fuel Worldwide Limited. This company is the head company that oversees the stores and holds the intellectual property. They do not own the 20 stores or the stores turnover. The directors would not give an indication of either turnover or when they would make a profit. If fact they mentioned that they would not make a profit for several years.
It's interesting because they only receive 6% of stores turnover. System wide sales were only 15 million during the 2006/2007 year so 6% of this figure would net the head company only $900,000 in turnover. Hardly great earnings for a $60 million dollar company as they suggest. These figures would give a Price to Sales ratio of 1.5%. Let alone Price to Earnings. They still need to cover all their costs out of that 900K including staff costs for all the extensive number of head office staff they profiled in their prospectus.
They would also receive a 4% marketing contribution from each store but this cannot be counted as income because a) it is to be spent of advertising and b) they shouldn't be making a profit off the marketing contribution fund. Their accounts would be scrutinised as they will be public knowledge. Not a good idea to rip off or under market the franchisees.
To make an decent money say $15 million in turnover for the head company (not 1.5 million) received from stores the system wide sales would need to be 150 million. And say 200 stores. Its a big jump to go from 20 stores to 200.
Now of course time will tell whether the shares turn out to be successful but I have my hunches the cream has been taken by the directors at IPO already.
Auckland, New Zealand
Review - Richmastery Ltd
Richmastery in an Auckland based company that specialises in Financial Education, namely Property Investing Education. Started by Phil Jones and David Hows in 1999 it has grown to be the largest property education company in the country with revenues of $9 million per annum.
Their main business is running seminars, with additional mentoring groups as a side earner. They seem to get mixed reviews in the media. The first time I heard about them was on a TV program which labelled their 3-Day Property Seminars almost as cult-like in their management. The TV show did a really good job at giving them bad publicity! They showed a hidden camera inside the venue and people on their feet clapping. It really did look like something in a cult! So much so that I stayed away and cringed whenever I heard Richmastery.
The funny thing is that when I finally went to a teaser seminar from an ad I saw in the newspaper I was really impressed with the presentations and content! All the years I had avoided the company, they were really quite good! There 4 Hour seminars covered a lot of basic property strategies and we a great teaser to learn more. I think Phil Jones is a great presenter and a great salesman. Fascinating to watch with his comedic presenting style and his ability to break down the complex strategies into easy to understand pieces.
Richmastery's model is to invite the public to attend a FREE (Used to be $79 a head) Seminar to learn investing strategies from "Property Millionaires". The Free Seminar is essentially a 4 Hour Sales Pitch for their extensive 3-Day Seminar costing $2999. In addition they also provide optional mentoring services to guide and support you thru your property investing.
I must admit I have not attended their 3-Day Seminar but I have listened to numerous audio recordings put out by Richmastery and I have a fair idea of what happens at the property seminars and how they are structured. With this Blog being called Review Post I am not able to review the 3-Day seminar but if anyone would like to add even a few lines on their experience please do so at the bottm of this post. I love to hear first hand accounts, as opposed to the testimonials the the company puts out.
Did you gain your moneys worth from the seminar? Would you recommend others go? What did you like about the format of the weekend? What did you hate? What was missing?
Any comments are greatly appreciated in helping others decide whether to attend. Richmadstery's website can be viewed at: www.richmastery.com
Their main business is running seminars, with additional mentoring groups as a side earner. They seem to get mixed reviews in the media. The first time I heard about them was on a TV program which labelled their 3-Day Property Seminars almost as cult-like in their management. The TV show did a really good job at giving them bad publicity! They showed a hidden camera inside the venue and people on their feet clapping. It really did look like something in a cult! So much so that I stayed away and cringed whenever I heard Richmastery.
The funny thing is that when I finally went to a teaser seminar from an ad I saw in the newspaper I was really impressed with the presentations and content! All the years I had avoided the company, they were really quite good! There 4 Hour seminars covered a lot of basic property strategies and we a great teaser to learn more. I think Phil Jones is a great presenter and a great salesman. Fascinating to watch with his comedic presenting style and his ability to break down the complex strategies into easy to understand pieces.
Richmastery's model is to invite the public to attend a FREE (Used to be $79 a head) Seminar to learn investing strategies from "Property Millionaires". The Free Seminar is essentially a 4 Hour Sales Pitch for their extensive 3-Day Seminar costing $2999. In addition they also provide optional mentoring services to guide and support you thru your property investing.
I must admit I have not attended their 3-Day Seminar but I have listened to numerous audio recordings put out by Richmastery and I have a fair idea of what happens at the property seminars and how they are structured. With this Blog being called Review Post I am not able to review the 3-Day seminar but if anyone would like to add even a few lines on their experience please do so at the bottm of this post. I love to hear first hand accounts, as opposed to the testimonials the the company puts out.
Did you gain your moneys worth from the seminar? Would you recommend others go? What did you like about the format of the weekend? What did you hate? What was missing?
Any comments are greatly appreciated in helping others decide whether to attend. Richmadstery's website can be viewed at: www.richmastery.com
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Review - Parallel Imported Ltd
I have been closely watching Parallel Imported Ltd (an Auckland based company) for a few years now. They are the foremost parallel importing company in New Zealand. (See the blog post below to learn about parallel importing). They sell a wide range of Consumer products such as Mobile phones, ipods, car audio and fragrances. They tend to stick to the electronics market but they have dabbled with sunglasses and clothing.
Before I even stumbled across a store I had heard of them but for all the wrong reasons. They were featured on Fair Go, a New Zealand consumer advocacy program after a disgruntled customer complained about their lack of service. It seems since this program several years ago they have been on a charm offensive greatly turning round their customer service by offering outrageous guarantees to gain back the trust of customers both past and potential. Some of their new initiatives include a 14day no questions asked return policy, and 1 year guarantee on all merchandise.
They have 4 stores located in Auckland. 2 on Queen St, 1 on the North Shore and one in East Auckland. They also had a store in Porirua but this closed down. When I was in Wellington once I actually drove to Porirua (About a hour drive) to find this shop but couldn't locate it. Apparently it shut down because Wellingtonians don't like to drive to save on big ticket items they prefer to stay in the central city. From the time it took to drive to Porirua I knew it was a bad place to have a big ticket item shop..The only thing I knew about Wellington was that Porirua is like the Otara of Wellington! Porirua is a low income side of town I could have told them Porirua was a bad location. I thnk they should try again in Wellington but this time in the city. Also I would love to see them hit all the main centres in New Zealand.
2 stores on queen st! This is a funny concept having 2 stores on the same road but the stores are quite small and I suppose it makes sense to capture shoppers at the top and bottom as Queen Street and parking is a nightmare.
Tayne derriman is the founder of Parallel Imported Ltd. He originally started trading used mobile phones but then turned to brand new phones. He originally sold at markets out of the back of his car, and in the trade and exchnage paper. Demand really took off and he started to look at other electronic products. He opened a small store and had people people lining around the blacok to get in on Saturday mornings.
PIL now has it 4 Auckland stores, a wholesale division and a website.
In my opinion Tayne has built a great company from scratch and apparently they turnover 50 million a year now. Not bad for a company only 5 years old.
Some facts used from article: "Parallel Universe" - Unlimited.co.nz
Before I even stumbled across a store I had heard of them but for all the wrong reasons. They were featured on Fair Go, a New Zealand consumer advocacy program after a disgruntled customer complained about their lack of service. It seems since this program several years ago they have been on a charm offensive greatly turning round their customer service by offering outrageous guarantees to gain back the trust of customers both past and potential. Some of their new initiatives include a 14day no questions asked return policy, and 1 year guarantee on all merchandise.
They have 4 stores located in Auckland. 2 on Queen St, 1 on the North Shore and one in East Auckland. They also had a store in Porirua but this closed down. When I was in Wellington once I actually drove to Porirua (About a hour drive) to find this shop but couldn't locate it. Apparently it shut down because Wellingtonians don't like to drive to save on big ticket items they prefer to stay in the central city. From the time it took to drive to Porirua I knew it was a bad place to have a big ticket item shop..The only thing I knew about Wellington was that Porirua is like the Otara of Wellington! Porirua is a low income side of town I could have told them Porirua was a bad location. I thnk they should try again in Wellington but this time in the city. Also I would love to see them hit all the main centres in New Zealand.
2 stores on queen st! This is a funny concept having 2 stores on the same road but the stores are quite small and I suppose it makes sense to capture shoppers at the top and bottom as Queen Street and parking is a nightmare.
Tayne derriman is the founder of Parallel Imported Ltd. He originally started trading used mobile phones but then turned to brand new phones. He originally sold at markets out of the back of his car, and in the trade and exchnage paper. Demand really took off and he started to look at other electronic products. He opened a small store and had people people lining around the blacok to get in on Saturday mornings.
PIL now has it 4 Auckland stores, a wholesale division and a website.
In my opinion Tayne has built a great company from scratch and apparently they turnover 50 million a year now. Not bad for a company only 5 years old.
Some facts used from article: "Parallel Universe" - Unlimited.co.nz
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Review - Parallel Importing
I have been meaning to write about Parallel Importing for a while now. For those of you unfamiliar with the term "parallel importing" essentially it means to purchase a product from one country and import it directly yourself bypassing any local distributors.
Why is parallel importing good? In short it means cheaper prices for in-demand products. Lets take a famous product for example, Levis. Levis has their head office in USA and in each country around the world they will have either a local office or local distributors for Levis jeans. The head company usually has an agreement to only supply the products to the distributor in each country. This means that if you want to sell this product in your shop (or whatever) you must purchase it from the local distributor.
Where this is bad is that effectively the local distributor has the monopoly over the product: ie if you want Levis in your shop you have to order it from the local distributor. And we all know monopolies are not good for prices. The local distributor will charge as high a price as they can because local shops cannot buy the products from elsewhere.
In New Zealand we are a long way away from the major business markets like the USA so we end up with very expensive prices (higher than they need to be) because there is simply no competition. Where parallel importing is good is that if you notice a product is a lot cheaper overseas (they usually are due to a bigger market) then you can import this product and sell it cheaper in NZ. This measn shops can charge a lower price.
Parallel imports (or grey market goods) were illegal in NZ until a new law was passed in 1998 removing the ban. New Zealand was one of the first countries to do so and I believe Malaysia, Japan and a few other small asian countries are the only ones that have lifted the ban. Most other countries still prohibit parallel imports. NZ is so far away from everythinmg at the bottom of the world that we often get looked over. We are so reliant on imports that prices were so high. I am glad the govt removed the ban as it has broken a lot of the monopolies and high prices.
Paraplle importing means you can import goods from any other country into New Zealand and sell them here without involving the NZ distributors or copyright holders.
Parallel imports are often confused with counterfeit or fake items but this is not the case. Counterfeit items have been made illegally without the consent of the trademark owner. Ie a China factory makes bags that say Louis Vuitton on them when the factory has not been contracted by the LV company and has nothing to do with the real Louis Vuitton company.
Parallel Imports are goods made by the actual company. The head company then sells their products into the marketplace ie to shops and wholesalers. These products can then be bought and shipped to another country. The Head company has made the products, they are the real genuine item - they have just been moved around.
The end benefit of parallel importing means that a shop can purchase the Levis overseas at a cheaper price than they can from the NZ distributor, this means they can sell to the public at a cheaper price thus forcing the local distributors to drop their prices. This is good for consumers because it means they are getting a fair market price and avoiding the monopolistic distributors.
Later I will elaborate more on parallel importing and spotlight a NZ company that has been very successful with parallel importing.
Why is parallel importing good? In short it means cheaper prices for in-demand products. Lets take a famous product for example, Levis. Levis has their head office in USA and in each country around the world they will have either a local office or local distributors for Levis jeans. The head company usually has an agreement to only supply the products to the distributor in each country. This means that if you want to sell this product in your shop (or whatever) you must purchase it from the local distributor.
Where this is bad is that effectively the local distributor has the monopoly over the product: ie if you want Levis in your shop you have to order it from the local distributor. And we all know monopolies are not good for prices. The local distributor will charge as high a price as they can because local shops cannot buy the products from elsewhere.
In New Zealand we are a long way away from the major business markets like the USA so we end up with very expensive prices (higher than they need to be) because there is simply no competition. Where parallel importing is good is that if you notice a product is a lot cheaper overseas (they usually are due to a bigger market) then you can import this product and sell it cheaper in NZ. This measn shops can charge a lower price.
Parallel imports (or grey market goods) were illegal in NZ until a new law was passed in 1998 removing the ban. New Zealand was one of the first countries to do so and I believe Malaysia, Japan and a few other small asian countries are the only ones that have lifted the ban. Most other countries still prohibit parallel imports. NZ is so far away from everythinmg at the bottom of the world that we often get looked over. We are so reliant on imports that prices were so high. I am glad the govt removed the ban as it has broken a lot of the monopolies and high prices.
Paraplle importing means you can import goods from any other country into New Zealand and sell them here without involving the NZ distributors or copyright holders.
Parallel imports are often confused with counterfeit or fake items but this is not the case. Counterfeit items have been made illegally without the consent of the trademark owner. Ie a China factory makes bags that say Louis Vuitton on them when the factory has not been contracted by the LV company and has nothing to do with the real Louis Vuitton company.
Parallel Imports are goods made by the actual company. The head company then sells their products into the marketplace ie to shops and wholesalers. These products can then be bought and shipped to another country. The Head company has made the products, they are the real genuine item - they have just been moved around.
The end benefit of parallel importing means that a shop can purchase the Levis overseas at a cheaper price than they can from the NZ distributor, this means they can sell to the public at a cheaper price thus forcing the local distributors to drop their prices. This is good for consumers because it means they are getting a fair market price and avoiding the monopolistic distributors.
Later I will elaborate more on parallel importing and spotlight a NZ company that has been very successful with parallel importing.
We are back
Well its been a little while since my last post - one month to be exact. Seems to be that time of year where things speed up. I have a little more spare time now so will be increasing the number of posts as I have a lot to say.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Review - Seminar: Mal Emery Masters of Cashflow
Mal Emery Masters of Cashflow Auckland October 2007
This seminar had its moments. One thing I wanted to complain about was the fact that Mike Filsaime wasn't their when he was in the brouchure. False advertising. I even paid $50 to go.
Other than that it wasn't as good as the 21st Century but still lots of good speakers.
Would I pay $50 to go to another of Mal seminars? Probably not.
Would I go if it was free - hey id go to anything free!
Mal this guy is hard to figure out. There was a lot of regurgitated generic business information I had heard at other seminars. It makes me wonder if all seminar guys get their power point and content from.
Some speakers were: Ted Nicholas, Adam Traffic
This seminar had its moments. One thing I wanted to complain about was the fact that Mike Filsaime wasn't their when he was in the brouchure. False advertising. I even paid $50 to go.
Other than that it wasn't as good as the 21st Century but still lots of good speakers.
Would I pay $50 to go to another of Mal seminars? Probably not.
Would I go if it was free - hey id go to anything free!
Mal this guy is hard to figure out. There was a lot of regurgitated generic business information I had heard at other seminars. It makes me wonder if all seminar guys get their power point and content from.
Some speakers were: Ted Nicholas, Adam Traffic
Review - Seminar: 21st Century Academy
Internet and Business Mastery October 2007 Auckland
Some how I was offered free tickets to this event (supposedly worth a bit of money) so I went along to checkit out. I had seen Jamie McIntyre speak a few years before and I was impressed. this event turned out to be one of the best I have been to yet.
It was 3 days long. First day was 9 am to 10 or 11 pm at night! It was worth it. Jamie spoke for most of the first day. About 8 hours. Lots of good content about general business, internet and property.
Day Two was a lot of internet people speaking. Lots of good content I took pages and pages of notes.
Day 3 was property and shares. Lots of good stuff
I would recommend going to one of their free seminars.
Some how I was offered free tickets to this event (supposedly worth a bit of money) so I went along to checkit out. I had seen Jamie McIntyre speak a few years before and I was impressed. this event turned out to be one of the best I have been to yet.
It was 3 days long. First day was 9 am to 10 or 11 pm at night! It was worth it. Jamie spoke for most of the first day. About 8 hours. Lots of good content about general business, internet and property.
Day Two was a lot of internet people speaking. Lots of good content I took pages and pages of notes.
Day 3 was property and shares. Lots of good stuff
I would recommend going to one of their free seminars.
Review - Auctionitis TradeMe Software
If you are running a trademe.co.nz business or aspire to you need to read more about this software.
This software is really amazing. It can automatically load your auctions without you having to be there! No more waiting up til 9pm on the computer just to load auctions at the peak times, just set and forget.
Over the coming weeks I will go into more depth about how I use Auctionitis.
This software is really amazing. It can automatically load your auctions without you having to be there! No more waiting up til 9pm on the computer just to load auctions at the peak times, just set and forget.
Over the coming weeks I will go into more depth about how I use Auctionitis.
First Blog is up
Okay. First Blog was written and just posted. Quite easy to do really.
But this brings me to my first query. The date of the post says it was yesterday Sunday. Today being Monday where I am in New Zealand. That is my first gripe. Not everyone lives in America.
So I spose its not a biggie but its a small point I though I should mention.
But this brings me to my first query. The date of the post says it was yesterday Sunday. Today being Monday where I am in New Zealand. That is my first gripe. Not everyone lives in America.
So I spose its not a biggie but its a small point I though I should mention.
Review Time
Here I will be reviewing anything (topic, product) I feel the need to review.
Perhaps something has pissed me off, perhaps something has really impressed me. But seriously not too much annoys me so it will be a positive place.
I want to share my experiences to help others achieve success, and avoid problems.
I'm not going to set a plan, I will write about a review what comes to me - thats the point of a blog isn't it? :)
I am business minded so most topics will have a business feel to them. But I hope they are entertaining and informative enough to appeal to anyone.
Thanks for stopping by!
Read on.........
Perhaps something has pissed me off, perhaps something has really impressed me. But seriously not too much annoys me so it will be a positive place.
I want to share my experiences to help others achieve success, and avoid problems.
I'm not going to set a plan, I will write about a review what comes to me - thats the point of a blog isn't it? :)
I am business minded so most topics will have a business feel to them. But I hope they are entertaining and informative enough to appeal to anyone.
Thanks for stopping by!
Read on.........
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