He will then buy the salvage project in your behalf, in many cases you could be saving serious money, if you know what you are doing. The project has been so successful that it was only a matter of time before transferring that model into the States became a consideration.

So i have spent some time putting together A Search engine friend auto salvage site, that will get Americans interested in the same thing as over here.  So as of know a LLC has been formed, but I need to go across to Florida to get certain other requirements sorted out and I may have a few days off also.

The site is called AutoSalvageFinder and at the initial stages will only include auto salvage from Florida auctions, until we are confident the process will work and we have the system to do the job.
With several live auctions occurring throughout the week, there will be thousands of autos to choose from, all put in front of the publics eye, without the need to join the auction house first.

Another large market will be the export one. Many Mexicans and east European countries now export cars from the USA as they are often much cheaper than at home. Of course the steering wheel is on the wrong side for UK buyers, so even though there is still a demand, it is not as great as other European countries.
As cars in general are cheaper in the USA, it is no surprise that the Auto Salvage is even cheaper, from RVs to Japanese models.

If you are from the States and live in Florida, we are looking for some recovery agents to ship cars across the State. let us know

However things do go wrong when the unexpected occurs, outside these calculations. It is quite surprising how many businesses, think the vehicle they use will go on forever without ant mishap. The solution is of course to ensure you have some sort of breakdown cover to help when these situations arise. For the members of the public a car breakdown is time wasted, but for a business it could mean losing a client, not delivering things on time that can have knock on effect well after the vehicle has been repaired.

It is surprising then, how many businesses do not see breakdown cover as an essential buy. We will get Jonny form the warehouse to go out and fix it, is often a reply when asked the question. I normally reply, that if Jonny has so much time free to leave his post, then why is Jonny employed at all. When you bear in mind how cheap breakdown cover is today, a years premium for one vehicle could be less than a few hours wages for Jonny, it is wonder why breakdown cover is ever even considered as non essential.
There are also the breakdowns that Jonny can’t fix, that need the tools that are only carried within a breakdown cover patrolman’s van, or the recovery of the vehicle back to base to a local garage to be repaired. Business is about doing what you do best and employing others to do what they do best.

When we try to do everything in the hope of saving money, if often turns out to be false economy. So if you are a business owner and you see your staff or even you under a van more hours than running the business and making important decisions, you may find your business will suffer.

The project is called Mortgagebam and has been developed as a consumer friendly solution to finding mortgage brokers within their local area. As you know so many consumers just pick the first mortgage broker out of the yellow pages, or just go down to their local building society, but hopefully Mortgagebam will be able to give a selection of Mortgage Brokers who will contact them to establish who is right to help them with their home buying decisions.

There are many other online mortgage lead systems out there, but they all help the mortgage broker specifically not the consumer, so the uptake is not likely to be high. In better words the lead just goes to the highest bidder, who may not be the right person for the job and other Mortgage Brokers do not get a look in, unless they pay big for it.
Mortgagebam is not designed that way, it hopes it will benefit both, by selling leads all at the same price and presenting them to several mortgage advisers, giving the consumer real choice. Each lead payment is then divided by the amount of mortgage brokers it went to, so reducing the cost of the lead.

I am excited about this, but the search engine optimisation of the project will take some time as Mortgages is a very difficult search term to rank for. It will take another 6 months or so, especially as there are other projects on the go, which I will talk about in future blogs.

If you are a mortgage broker and not charge for your service (only take payment in commission), why not give me an email, and I will let you have few leads free for you time.

The built in anti spam defence system just did not work against the modern software they use. We have got around this by adding another password, which as soon as the spammers get to know we can change again.

The ironic thing is they get no benefit unless they take the time post. The membership details are locked from non members and that means Google and the other search engines, which is what they do it for.

So we are back a bit bruised and should i also say a bit embarassed, not being aware of how to deal with the issue as soon as it started. We have also learned it takes more time to mange a business forum that we originally thought, so our growth will now be a bit slower as our own businesses are growing.

Anyway thanks for reading, hope to see you back here a bit more.

Mark

But wanted to be included within the Catalyst2 register, which requires to be to be on the One North east register. I was surprised of how quick it was, I think it took about 7 days, from receiving the forms, to contacting the referees, to being accepted.

I suppose that means I can use the One North East logo now and tender for work from Business Link etc. Business link has changed its format from April 1st, so lets see if there are any changes.

I have presented workshops before, but not full days, so it was good to discover my allocated times for each part, worked pretty well.

I know however that no matter how much they enjoyed the course only a few of them will follow through and do something with their websites. After all what use is a website without traffic.

The IBD a business adviser network Im involved in is also putting together a business forum like this, but it is interesting how it will look and feel different. I will show the URL when it is finished and for those of you in Teesside, might get away with registering with them also.

I have also been tasked with revamping their IBD website. www.ibd-yorkshire.co.uk, it’s getting a bit old now and doesn’t really achieve anything, so that may be something I do when I am back in Spain.

Most of these are for subjects that would be banned here anyway, even if they were from the North east of England.

If your reading this, no spam please, you are wasting my time and yours.

I will see if I can get some emails out today and try and kick start everything.
If you are a member and are reading this, please post something of interest, anything to help keep the forum moving.

Mark

This is the first month where new members have found the site through other means than an email from me anther milestone, I believe the more that join, the more posts there are, the more it will snowball.

Of course there is a remedy and that is for everyone who has not told us what they sell or what they do yet, to introduce themselves and post some information of their services. This is of course free and will only take a few minutes.

Those who have done this can post again with updated offers.

Anyone can post business advice or ask for it, especially if you have a speciality and know of a law change or something. Remember; every time you post, your details get in front of at least 50 businesses and more if you count the ones who have not registered yet.

I have been trying to keep the site clean, and have taken off many USA and foreign posts or members just spamming the site. If the can find the site in Malaysia, they can find it in Newcastle.

If you reading this and do not have a base or business in the North East, do not post, as you will just be removed.

Thanks for your support, it may take some time, but it is moving in the right direction.
Mark

Well I did get promoted to assistant manager, but even back then times had changed, and it was no longer seen as a requirement for even senior management to wear a suit. I didn’t get it at the time, surely I had worked for that privilege and no one would see me as a manger any more, just another person of the team.

A little while later I was interviewing for a position within my team and my area manager decided to stay in with me during the interviews. At the end I had made a firm decision of whom I wanted to employ, but it was overruled. The reason given was because he was wearing white socks. It was not a fashionable thing to do that at the time, probably still isn’t. I was told I needed to employ the chap who had turned up immaculacy dressed, highly polished shoes and an expensive watch to match. My area manager told me there and then, that how a man dressed, reflected in his standard of work.

Six weeks later this chap put his notice in and left after upsetting many existing staff including me. His time keeping was immaculate, 30 seconds after the end of his shift he was in his BMW and away home. His planning was also immaculate, planning the dinner party Thursday, planning shopping Saturday, everything except the job that was going to pay for all these things. He was so obsessed with his appearance that he would do nothing but move a pen and carry a piece of paper. One week later, I employed my original choice that was still there 7 years later, and maybe still is.

This was one of the many times over the years that I realised that wearing a suit and a tie does not earn you respect or even reflects your ability to anything well. Just look at the large organisations that have become successful over the years and ask, did they employ people or suits? Did they take the time to get the right people in the right job or did they employ on dress alone. Is Google full of office workers wearing ties and suits, is it a policy at Microsoft? I have another question, have you met anyone wearing a suit and a tie that did not have a clue what he was talking about? Did the suit and tie make this acceptable?

I remembered all this, this morning after reading and article in the Financial Mail about the “Entrepreneur Of The Year” that had chosen to run his own business because he was sacked for refusing to wear a tie. Clearly another intelligent, capable person judged on old-fashioned rules rather than ability to do the job.

As you can see from my photo in the header, I still have to wear a tie in certain situations, otherwise I don’t get the contract, I still need to play to the rules also, business adviser or not. But where I can, I try to dress as myself and not for business, I want them to see the real me because after all, it is myself and my skills they are employing.

If I came into your business, would you be looking at me, or the lack of a tie?

There are opportunities out there, but are you hungry enough to go out and get them or do we sit in our offices and wait for the gold chest to come to you?
This is an example of that. Possibly only 50 or so local businesses signing up to be there on the day, with one in four getting business. Remember this is not a £100 sale, this is contracts to satisfy huge organisations. there will be over 30 organisations there.

I would have thought the £70 a good investment, even if you only got a list of names from it. One name could give you a contract that could change your business standing.
If you going to be there, look out for myself and Julian and have a chat.

Mark