Guidant Financial Group Blog

NextBigFranchise.com, recently conducted an interview with Guidant’s cofounder, David Nilssen.  NextBigFranchise.com, a unique franchise site, which connects potential franchisees with franchise opportunities via video (think “video dating service for franchises”!)—has named Guidant as its preferred financing advisor. So a video interview about Guidant’s services was the natural result.


In the interview, David talks about Guidant’s work as a full-service financing firm for those hoping to purchase a franchise or small business. Some of the topics he covers are:

• Unsecured Loans: An increasingly popular way for business buyers to borrow up to $100,000 for less than 10% annually without using their home or other assets as collateral

• Equipment Leasing Packages: Ideal for those not yet ready to invest in depreciating equipment

• Debt- and Equity-Based Financing Solutions: Including Guidant’s ever-popular tax- and penalty-free 401(k) funds investment into a business purchase or loan down payment

• SBA Loans: Guidant’s national network of lenders who help with SBA loans

It’s a short but informative interview, so take a minute or two to watch the video.....

We came across a good article the other day in NuWireInvestor.com: “What Small Businesses Can Learn From Big Companies.”

In the article by Mitch Free and reprinted from The Street (an investment news and analysis site), entrepreneurs are encouraged to “consider the lessons offered by the successes and mistakes of America's largest companies.”

The article goes on to suggest ways to improve your focus, market smartly and how to adopt a service mentality without offering too many products or services.

When Guidant started out, our co-founders studied the winning characteristics of successful companies—no matter how large or small. But they didn’t stop their studies there. They continued to learn from others . . . and from their own successes and their own mistakes. And, as a result, Guidant has survived the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression.

One of the keys to helping your own company (or your own life, for that matter), survive the hard times is to be a continual learner. The minute you think you know it all, you’ve only proven that you don’t!

Are executives of mega-corporations overpaid?

Before you answer, think about how hard they work and how much money their companies earn for their stockholders. Then think about how hard you work, the contributions you make to the profits of your employer and the salary you earn. (Oops. Did we just lose you there? Did you just go screaming from the room?)

Obviously, the instinctive, response to the question of whether these execs are overpaid is “Darn right they are!” While common sense seems to dictate that employers with the multimillion dollar salaries are overpaid, it’s hard to quantify it beyond a visceral “I-feel-sick-to-my-stomach” response.

Now a salary compensation expert with advanced statistical tools has done just that (quantified the overpayment, that is, not gotten sick to his stomach . . . although maybe he did both). Graef Crystal compared the 2009 pay of 271 chief executive officers against their shareholders’ returns.

Crystal’s answer to “Are CEOs overpaid?”—according to Bloomberg News, which requested the study—is: “No matter how he sliced the data, the answer was no.” You can read all about it, along with cool, interactive graphics, at: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/10/05/0506_overpaid_underpaid_ceos/index.htm)

We all, of course, suspected this, but it’s good now to have the proof.

So what can Guidant do to help you deal with this situation? Well, honestly, other than “feeling your pain,” there’s not much . . . other than one possible thing: If you happen to work for one of these CEOs with an obscenely bloated salary, then consider quitting and going into business for yourself.  Guidant's 401k small business financing plan can help.

We can help you make it happen. And, while we can’t promise you’ll earn a multimillion dollar salary, we can promise that, as your own boss, you’ll never feel again like an underpaid underling to an overpaid CEO.

According to The New York Times and other media outlets, April was the fourth consecutive month in which the country saw job growth. President Obama pronounced the data “very encouraging,” while others crossed their fingers and prayed that these figures would provide the momentum to spur even more employers to expand their workforce with confidence again.

Is it . . .could it be . . are we really looking at a positive trend? Call us crazy-eyed optimists, but we think so!

Back in October 2008, we watched in near disbelief as the economy melted down and our potential clients suddenly froze like deer in the headlights. And we did what a lot of other smart companies did: consolidated our resources, narrowed our focus and got rid of our leased espresso machine. (Something our employees are still moaning about. This is Seattle after all.)

And we not only survived, but now we’re thriving again thanks to some sound business acumen and the confidence the public is slowly regaining in the U.S. economy.

Already we’ve watched our number of 401k small business financing clients increase as potential small business owners regain their financial footing and their IRAs/401(k)s start to grow again. And as for our own workforce, we’re hiring new people to handle the increasing numbers of new clients.

All of this keeps us hopeful about Guidant’s future, our clients’ futures, and the future of the country as a whole. We’re not yet dancing in the streets, but we’re dusting off our moves in preparation for that day . . . which surely can’t be far away.

Guidant is featured in a video profile on Small Business Television (SBTV.com), the first television network on the Web devoted exclusively to the small business market. Content on the site is produced by professional journalists and savvy industry insiders who (obviously!) recognize that Guidant is a great resource for entrepreneurs and others buying or investing in a small business.

After you’ve watched the video, which you’ll find about 1 ½ minutes into it, take some time to check out the rest of the SBTV.com site. It’s packed with valuable information, and the site boasts some top small business partner organizations, like the SBA, International Franchise Association, National Women’s Business Council, The Entrepreneurs’ Organization, National Association of Manufacturers, and even the IRS!

The popular website, NuWireInvestor.com, has reprinted a great article by Elizabeth Blackwell of The Street, an investment analysis and forecasting site. The article, “What You Should Consider Before Launching a New Business,” is worth a read . . . as are most of the other articles and blogs on NuWire.

Featured in Blackwell’s article is some expert advice from a Florida State University professor of entrepreneurship. "Every new business is risky," he’s quoted as saying. "Why add to the risk by adding debt?” He suggests that entrepreneurs would be wise to avoid borrowing and, instead, should tap their friends, family and business partners for the capital.

Of course, that’s all fine and dandy, if you happen to know some really generous people!

But one source of no-debt financing is missing from the article: using your own capital from your own IRA or 401(k) funds to launch a business. While this financing option continues to grow in popularity, it’s still unfamiliar territory to some folks who could really benefit from it.

If you’re reading this blog, then you may already be familiar with alternative financing for small businesses. So share the good news! Refer someone who’s dreaming of opening a business to our website. Better yet, encourage them to register for one of our e-training and short online seminars. Imagine how good you’ll feel if you play a part in helping someone’s dream come true!

Could this be the year?  For the third year in a row, one of Guidant's cofounders is a semifinalist for the “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year”.  This year they were nominated as a package deal.

David Nilssen and Jeremy Ames been selected by Ernst & Young as a Pacific Northwest semifinalist in one of the nation’s most prestigious business award programs for entrepreneurs.

Recognizing business leaders in over 135 cities in 50 countries, the Entrepreneur of the Year awards, according to Ernst & Young, “are given to entrepreneurs who demonstrate extraordinary success in the areas of innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.”

We couldn’t be happier for David and Jeremy. They have kept Guidant not only afloat but full steam ahead in this last year’s tough economy—a remarkable feat for the men we call our leaders and friends.

We’ll learn whether David and Jeremy is crowned the award winner at a June 18 ceremony in Seattle. We’ll keep you posted!

Meanwhile, we’ve all got our fingers crossed and we’re hoping that, as the old expression goes, “The third time is the charm.”

Check out our May schedule of e-training and short online seminars. If you haven’t yet “virtually” attended one of these information sessions, then you owe it to yourself to set a few minutes aside to learn from the experts in business financing and alternative investing using IRAs/ 401(k)s.

You can participate in webinars about the IRA LLC; business financing with retirement funds; small business financing option; buying a business without debt; and self-directed IRAs that enable investing in real estate and other opportunities outside the stock market.

If you’re already familiar with these concepts but it’s a bit of a challenge explaining them to others, here’s your chance to get your spouse, your friends and/or business advisors to listen to the award-winning professionals who work with these setups every day.

To go to our News and Events website page and get the full schedule, click the following link: www.guidantfinancial.com/about/news/default.aspx .

Any day now, we’ll know whether Guidant has, once again, been named Eastside Small Business of the Year. We won the award in 2007, and we’re one of three finalists up for the award this year.

Sponsored by the Bellevue, Wash., Chamber of Commerce, the Eastside Business Awards honor businesses that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to quality, community and innovation. Our application will be judged by a panel of top business leaders in the region. (“Eastside,” by the way, means the area East of Seattle and Lake Washington, and it includes busy communities like Bellevue, Redmond and Issaquah.)

The winner will be announced at a May 12 event at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue.

If we win, you can bet that the distant sound of cheering you think you hear is, indeed, coming from Guidant!

On May 6 the stock market suddenly and inexplicably plummeted nearly 1,000 points before just as mysteriously rebounding another 16 minutes later. Financial experts are still trying to figure out what happened. Some blame Greece’s economic crisis, while others suspect a trader mistakenly typed “billion” instead of “million” somewhere along the line.

Already the papers, blogs and media outlets are filling up with commentary on the market’s craziness and are offering opinions on what happened and how to avoid it in the future. Here’s a good one from The NY Times.

Everyone from financial titans to the proverbial man on the street are facing the reality that Wall Street is just another word for gambling – and far too often with the odds stacked against you.

Whether you want to refer to the May 6 plummet as a “Greek Tragedy” or a “Fat-Fingered Failure” (and throw in another couple of f-words, if you like!) it’s a terrifying thing . . . and only proves what those of us at Guidant already know: The only investment you can control is an investment in yourself.

This is why we’ve already helped thousands of clients invest IRA and 401(k) funds in a small business or franchise they own and control. Rather than watching helplessly as their retirement funds dwindle into nothing by the hand of mismanaged or unscrupulous corporations—or watching as moribund accounts gather dust rather than interest—these savvy investors are now experiencing business success while watching their nest eggs grow.

Maybe it’s time you turned away from Wall Street and looked instead in the mirror . . . and invested in the one person you can always trust to have your best interests in mind: YOU.