Category: News

Are you wondering what the hottest franchising trends are?  Much of the recent success in that area is traceable to two demographic trends: Americans are getting older and feeling pressed for time.  Doesn’t sound too bright, but it means booming business in franchising circles. Now I am by no means a Franchise Guru.  I’ve never owned one, worked for one, or even considered one and for good reasons. First, when I started my publishing and publicity business I wasn’t flush financially enough to pay the “freight” on a franchise. Secondly, it seems too much like working for another corporate business to me.  Things are done their way or no way, and you work for two – you and the piece the company takes.  That doesn’t mean that it can’t be your cup of tea, because many entrepreneurs love fr

In late 2006 the economy was showing indicators that pointed to a looming mortgage crisis that would ultimately disrupt the flow of business in the secondary market. Investors, who are essential to the flow of money, basically ignored the warning signs but began trading more cautiously. What they ignored was the "perfect storm" as it relates to our secondary mortgage market. The housing bubble burst, sub-prime loans began adjusting, investors stopped trading, and mortgage companies were left holding mortgages that were not worth what they paid for them. A by-product of the housing boom was an addiction to credit largely funded by the rising equity in our homes. A large portion of our economy was deeply invested in this boom. The chain of industries that profited from and helped propagate