Hiring An Auction Company

Estimating your assets value:

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

Compensation and Expenses:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Auction Expenses:

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

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

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

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

Buyer’s Premium:

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

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

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

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

Pre-Sales:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top Tips for Marketing Your Home Based Business

Starting a home based business is not a very difficult proposition but what matters most is marketing your business if you want to succeed in a competitive environment. Marketing is an ongoing process and you should ensure that your home based business and your image is in the limelight all the time.No business can succeed unless you create sufficient awareness and get people talking about your product and services. The strategies given below will help you in your endeavor to succeed.1. Word of mouth is one of the best forms of promoting your business. As soon as you start working from home, pass the word round to your friends, colleagues and acquaintances about your new business and the quality products you offer. This news will spread around the community much faster than you ever dreamt about. Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon places great emphasis on this-”If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”2. However small your home business might be an online presence is essential today. It is important that you have a professional looking website for your business. A well designed website will make your business appear big, professional and organized. Having a website has several advantages such as free advertisement for your products, informing customers about changes in products, information about specials, promotions and discounts available.3. Put the URL of your website, your home based business address and your telephone number on all printed matter that goes out of your business such as letters, envelopes, labels, faxes and invoices. This is an easy way of advertising your business and keeping your image in the public eye constantly.4. Advertising in the local media can play a vital role in promoting your home business. Small classified ads do not cost much money. These ads will certainly create awareness about your business in the local community. Send out regular press releases. Get the local press interested in your home based business and get them to write a news story how it benefits the local community. This will without doubt give your business a great boost. If you have the necessary funds, marketing your products through the radio can be even more effective.5. An inexpensive method of marketing your work at home business is by distributing Flyers. Flyers are easy to produce and in fact can be produced by you in your computer.Provide all the details of your business in brief including the address and URL. Similarly attractive and well designed Brochures are great marketing tools. These can be prepared and placed in clubs, libraries and supermarkets where people gather.6. One of the best marketing tools often ignored or overlooked by most new business entrepreneurs is the Business Card. A business card projects your image and credibility. Whenever you meet people at seminars, trade fairs, conferences and other functions, take the opportunity to exchange cards with them. They are influential people who can be very useful in promoting your business in several ways.Marketing your home based business has to be viewed in the right perspective and your success will be greatly dependent on how efficiently you handle this most important aspect of your business.

10 Powerful Reasons to Start a Home Based Business

Home Based Business has now become a buzz word where ever you go. The key question is, why do so many people want to go into business of working for themselves from home? The revelations are amazing and in this post I want to share with you 10 most powerful reasons why you should join the train of work from home entrepreneurs.

Most home based entrepreneurs are intrigued by the fact of working from home and not wading in morning and evening traffic to work day and night. One other appealing fact is that, you no more have to answer to your boss’s whims and caprices.

The best among all is the fact that in this quick and fast world where your income is devoured by so many social demands, it will always be beneficial to have an extra income coming from some other source apart from your main 8 to 5 job.

Many have a slight idea of what could be achieved from a home based business but majority will be willing to fully embark on it if they are aware of these salient points I’m about to share with you now. Make a critical study of these 10 major beneficial points on working from home, and I guarantee once you take a careful look at them, your desire to start a home base business will soar high.

With that said, let’s go to reason #1.

1. Be your own Boss.

Ever thought of being your own Boss before?

You must also know that it’s not only the pride in being a boss but the ability to now think and make quality decision by yourself without anyone instructing and guiding you. But I must say that, after all is said and done, the experience and the confidence you gain far outweigh even the money and the freedom that comes with it.

Most millionaires will tell you that, the one most exciting thing they gain for being rich is not the money but who they become in terms of experience, discipline, associations etc.

2. Work when and how you want.

You may be working for a boss or for an organization but you always dread Monday mornings when you have to start another boring week after a long week end. When the alarm clock goes off you have no choice but to wake up and get going otherwise you could be fired for being late.

Yes, in most instances like this we all wish the business is ours so we could sleep a while and go as and when we like. For a home business, you could set your own working hours and if you are the type who loves to sleep during the early hours of the day, then you could just cuddle up in bed and sleep a little more.

But be aware of the fact that, running a home based business does not also give you the ability to just do things haphazardly without discipline, commitment and consistency. What started as a good dream could easily become a nightmare and that’s what has resulted in most dot bombs you see around today.

3. Job Security Issues are No More

Running your own home based business puts you in the seat of the boss; you are now the one who hires and fires. You are indomitable, you are the one holding the job, you call all the shots, and no one ever fires you.

You no more think of what happens during cut back and retrenchments, you are no more afraid of whether the company is going bankrupt or not. The issue of job security is now nipped in the bud once and for all.

4. You can start Part Time

Most people look at a home based business as something they can only do on full time and for that matter the fear of stopping their main job and starting a home based job has always created scary moments for them because of the risk of failure.

One good thing about starting a home based business especially an online business is to start small on part time till you are able to grow it into a fully matured business that can take care of your needs and wants.

Working 2 hours a day may be a good starting point for you. Exercise yourself and see some amount of money coming in and then add more hours and see much more before taking that deep leap to stop your day job. Don’t try to do all at a go. Take it easy one day at a time and before you realize you will be there.

5. Your personal confidence will soar

After just a few successes in your home based business, you will realize that your confidence will soar so high. You can now confidently hit your chest and say, yes, I have what it takes to start earning money online or make money from home.

Most times, it’s not so much about the money but the ability to prove to yourself that you can also work towards a goal and get it achieved. Also knowing for a fact that, success begets success, you will soon find yourself moving on to higher heights and crossing barriers you were not able to cross before.

6. You acquire a new level of discipline

As interesting and exciting as a home based business may be, it still requires some level of discipline and commitment to actually see it through to success. Where you do not develop the necessary discipline associated with being your own boss, you will finally observe everything crumbling at your feet.

The required discipline necessary to turn a home based business to success will definitely change your make up by the time you are through with it. It is therefore always good to realize that, it is not just about the money that you will make, but most of all, the discipline and the attitude it will leave within you.

7. You acquire and develop new skills and knowledge

It is impossible to remain at the same skill and knowledge level if you truly immerse yourself into your home based business. Let’s take an online business for instance, before you can truly perfect such a home based business, there are so many skills you need to develop and also certain specialized knowledge needs to be acquired.

It therefore goes without saying that, a successful home based business person will definitely ends up with a series of skills and specialized knowledge up his sleeve. The majority of these specialized skills and knowledge can only be acquired through hands-on practical experience.

8. You may earn a lot of money

Money is a reward for solving a problem; it therefore means that in order to have more money, it’s paramount that you have to solve more problems. It is also not a good decision to start a particular home based business because of the money involved. It is always good to start by doing what you love and the money will follow. As you love what you do, and you are able to help enough other people to get what they want, you will also get what you want.

Feel free to follow your passion without necessarily thinking about money. As you enjoy what you do, you will naturally involve your whole heart and this passion will show on the outside causing people to now respond to your call.

9. You can have freedom

After all is said and done, the key reason why most people want to engage in a home based business is the freedom. When you plan your activities well and you are able to achieve your goals, it’s quite possible to experience both financial and time freedom.

This level of freedom is what every worker yearns for but has eluded many. Freedom to do what you want, when you want it. Freedom to travel and go on vacation whilst your business keeps making money day in day out.

10. You can retire early

Should you be successful at your work from home business and you are earning enough, you could invest your money for it to work for you and go on early retirement. It has been the dream of many to retire early but the means to do so is just not there. With a very successful home based business, this could be achieved with hard work, dedication and commitment.

Many have done it, you are not the first so gird up your loins, fold up your sleeves and get ready to embark on this fruitful journey. There is no limit to what you can do, every good journey starts with the first step, take yours now.