Bismarck Tribune:
When Jack Glasser first picked up a camera at age 15, he wasn’t thinking he’d turn it into his own business within four years.

But now the 19-year-old entrepreneur — proud and motivated, with a couple of business awards under his belt — has more than 100 clients and is one of a local incubator’s first success stories.

Glasser began shooting senior pictures for individuals his junior year in high school and began growing a more diverse client base his senior year. Now, going into his fourth semester at the University of Mary, he contracts with a marketing firm for commercial work, has a strong client base and an eye on developing his business into an agency for photographers with the same values as his own: quality, creativity, personality. Those values just happen to be his business tagline, too.

Glasser is one of Bismarck’s IDEA Center’s first clients; he’s now benefitting from partnerships earned through the center’s networking opportunities and will soon benefit from having his own office space within the center’s new building, right next to another one of the center’s partners and success stories, TKX Marketing.

Both Glasser Images and TKX Marketing have young owners. Both businesses are young businesses. But they’re already successful, productive businesses, fueled by their own hard work and dedication, with a little extra push and guidance from Bismarck’s first idea incubator center. Read more.

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Netimperative:
A new social network is offering entrepreneurs the chance to video pitch their business ideas for funding to more than 100 investors, for free.

cmypitch.com is a social network for small businesses, that helps entrepreneurs engage and do business with investors and service providers, as well as connecting with other entrepreneurs.

Users can upload a two-minute video pitch to investors accessing the site looking for business ideas.

“Video is a great way to bring your business to life,” says Emmett Kilduff, founder and CEO of cmypitch.com. “It can really help entrepreneurs showcase their business idea to a potential investor. It also saves investors time screening potential opportunities.”

Users can also access professional videos for their pitch, by finding a production partner at the site.

The video-based website has five business communities, with a directory of 70,000 service providers to small and growing businesses, as well as a dedicated “Entrepreneur TV” channel featuring exclusive interviews with business leaders.

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Small Business Labs:
For many years Brazil has jokingly been referred to as “a country that will always have great potential.” But over the last decade, and in particular the last 3 years, Brazil has experienced strong economic growth. Key quote from a recent Wall Street Journal article:

A recent study by the local office of the French research firm Ipsos found that since 2005 more than 20 million people had entered the middle class, defined here as families with monthly income of around $635. The percentage of middle-class Brazilians has grown to 46% from 34%.

The new middle class has propelled a doubling in the domestic market for cosmetics, home electrical appliances and computers since 2002, according to Euromonitor International. In the computer sector, middle-class buyers are accounting for about 40% of sales, according to market analysts. Brazil now ranks fourth globally in computer sales behind the U.S., China and Japan.”

Brazil has always had enormous natural resources and has benefited from the run up in soybean, iron ore,timber and other commodity prices. While many remain skeptical and major problems like crime and corruption exist, the future looks increasingly bright for Brazil.

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U.S. News & World Report:
1. Know the fair-market valuation for a healthy business of the type you’re buying in that particular geographic location.

2. Do your due diligence: Scrutinize the seller’s financials and tax returns. Understand clearly what it costs to run the business: Ask for supplier contracts and invoices for significant expenses, like advertising and rent, for instance.

3. When you’re further along in the process, the seller should introduce you to her most important customers and recommend that they stay with you when you purchase the company.

4. Are there any hidden liabilities? Don’t hesitate to ask if there’s any pending litigation, regulation, and necessary capital improvements.

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TheStreet.com:
If for no reason other than the scantily-clad revelers adorning the floats in its Carnival parades, Brazil is certain to gain some investor attention now that its annual pre-Lenten festivities are at hand.

But aside from the images permeating TV and computer screens this time of year, how about the investment climate in Brazil?

For someone not already invested in Brazil, there doesn’t currently seem to be any compelling need to immediately get into the market Worldwide, current markets generally present above-average risks to any stock investor, and extreme caution is needed to navigate through these uncharted waters. The depth and duration of any impending U.S. or worldwide economic downturn is still largely unknown. Hence, a prudent investor is most likely to remain on the sidelines at least until the end of the first quarter of 2008 and let the market go through its gyrations.

There is not yet an overwhelming mass of evidence that a significant economic and market correction has already occurred in Brazil.

The Brazilian market’s Bovespa index, like most of the world’s stock market gauges, fell victim to selling in January. It skidded to a closing low of 53709.11 on Jan. 21 from its all-time high of 65790.81 set on Dec. 6 of last year. But within a week, it had recovered to near the 59000 level. The brief setback could hardly be described as a bear market, especially in emerging-market terms.

Continue reading this article.

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SkyNewswire:
* The most important thing would be to know your budget. It would help you understand which small business idea you should venture into and also help you compile a list of franchisee outlets you may be interested in. You must be completely aware of the amount of money you can put aside before you buy a small business franchise.

* You must also check your knowledge on the subject. Before buying a small business franchise, you need to know the benefits you can achieve by managing this business. This would require you to have a proper understanding of the business and the contract rules that are set by the franchisor. There are various opportunities where in, the head of the company may offer you assistance when it comes to providing you with the advertising and marketing strategies, the location, the training for the employees you will need to recruit and other such additional help you may require. A professional would generally see to it that you enjoy all these benefits, as the company and you as well, can reap rewards with proper planning and management.

* When you plan to go in for a small business franchise, you need to think before you embark upon the project. You must look at all the options available to make the correct choice.

* Always ensure that you have an experienced attorney who will guide you about the rules and regulations regarding the franchise you are wishing to buy. Ensure you have the copy of the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC). It is very necessary that you through these documents and try to know the terms and clauses which would be beneficial for you. This would help you in the future and would avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding between the both parties.

* You must also try to know the other franchisee outlets and go there personally to get a feel of the place. Here, you can even check the brochures and the catalogs to study the kind of discounts being offered and the various marketing strategies. Try to know the popularity of the small business franchise and the reaction and feedback of the people.

* Before you buy a small business franchise you can even opt to browse on the net and look at what is available. There are various guides available that will assist you in going about the right way when it comes to buying a small business franchise. This will help clear all the doubts or even give you new ideas to consider.

* You must buy the small business franchise with a complete clear mind and sound logic. This is a long-term investment and you must not be emotional about it. When you plan to start a small business, it will have lots of consequences on your life as well. Therefore, do not involve your emotions when you plan any business deals.

Buying a small business franchise can be rewarding if planned carefully. Ensure you check out all the pros and cons before taking up any new ventures.

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New York Times:
Bonnie Brown was fresh from a nasty divorce in 1999, living with her sister and uncertain of her future. On a lark, she answered an ad for an in-house masseuse at Google, then a Silicon Valley start-up with 40 employees. She was offered the part-time job, which started out at $450 a week but included a pile of Google stock options that she figured might never be worth a penny.

After 5 years of kneading engineers’ backs, Ms. Brown retired, cashing in most of her stock options, which were worth millions of dollars. To her delight, the shares she held onto have continued to balloon in value.

‘I’m happy I saved enough stock for a rainy day, and lately it’s been pouring,’ said Ms. Brown, 52, who now lives in a 3,000-square-foot house in Nevada, gets her own massages at least once a week and has a private Pilates instructor. She has traveled the world to oversee a charitable foundation she started with her Google wealth and has written a book, still unpublished, ‘Giigle: How I Got Lucky Massaging Google.’

When Google’s stock topped $700 a share last week before dropping back to $664 on Friday, outside shareholders were not the only ones smiling. According to documents filed on Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Google employees and former employees are holding options they can cash in worth about $2.1 billion. In addition, current employees are sitting on stock and unvested options, or options they cannot immediately cash in, that together have a value of about $4.1 billion.

Although no one keeps an official count of Google millionaires, it is estimated that 1,000 people each have more than $5 million worth of Google shares from stock grants and stock options.

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Bonnie Brown, 52 anos, foi massagista do Google quando a empresa tinha apenas 40 funcionários. Comprou ações do Google pelo preço antigo e ao se aposentar depois de 5 anos, ficou milionária vendendo os papéis pela cotação atual e lucrando a diferença.

Os papéis do Google foram lançados a US$ 85. Na semana passada, chegaram a US$ 747, para depois caírem a US$ 664 na 6ª. feira. Funcionários antigos, que entraram antes da abertura de capital, pagaram centavos por ação para exercer suas opções e Bonnie tinha direito a alguns milhares de papéis. Além de opções de compra, os funcionários do Google ganham cupons de massagem da empresa. Nada como uma bela massagem no bolso para refletir no ego

Foto: Misha Erwitt for The New York Times.

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The New York Times:
Microsoft has won a high-profile technology industry battle with Google and Yahoo! to invest in the social networking upstart Facebook.

The 2 companies said on Wednesday that Microsoft would invest $240 million for a 1.6% stake in Facebook. The investment values the 3-year-old Facebook, which will bring in about $150 million in revenue this year, at $15 billion.

The deal ends 2 months of jockeying between 3 major Internet players for the right to invest in and forge close ties with Facebook.

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UOL Economia:
Erros clássicos
Com o advento da internet, que praticamente acabou com as informações privilegiadas, o investidor tem maior liberdade de escolha e decisão, além de ter a possibilidade de investir on-line e de maneira independente.

Segundo Sandra Blanco, consultora financeira, este novo contexto que se desenha no mercado financeiro é fortemente atraente, mas pode provocar o primeiro erro clássico do investidor: captar informações de uma fonte não confiável. ‘A escolha de profissionais e instituições confiáveis é essencial no momento de investir’, afirma a especialista.

Outro erro que se repete entre os investidores é arriscar um dinheiro importante. O ideal é que cada um construa um plano de investimentos com a parcela do dinheiro que representa a receita extra, aquela que não é essencial para a vida no dia-a-dia. ‘Sempre se pergunte: e se eu perder tudo? Se isto for alterar sua vida significativamente, você investiu o dinheiro errado’.

Cuidado:
* Com a confiança excessiva: você não está acima do mercado, nem sabe mais do que ele

* Com a intuição: às vezes ela funciona, mas os fundamentos econômicos são mais seguros

* Com a falácia dos pequenos números: focar-se nas exceções em detrimento do todo pode trazer grandes prejuízos

* Com a ilusão de controle: o mercado é e sempre será imprevisível, o melhor a fazer é aprender a lidar com isso

Homens e mulheres: erros diferentes…

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