Its happening here.... again, in Hawaii. A whole new market is developing. We have about 1.6 million Japanese who visit our islands every year and now the Chinese are on the way to match or surpass this number over the next 4-5 years. What does this mean for Hawaii small business? Jobs...jobs...jobs. Just as there is still a crying need for bi-lingual Japanese workers the need for bi-lingual Chinese workers increases daily. Small businesses here in Hawaii can take complete advantage of this new market by providing. Start planning now. You can make money by serving this new market. Call us at Pacific Rim Business Consultants @ (808)744-1826 to help sell your business, provide consulting services or find the right franchise opportunity for you. |
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Franchising is a fast growing industry in Hawaii. Familiar names are popping up everywhere. The State of Hawaii has approved over 400 Franchisors to do business in the state. Why are they growing so fast? One reason is our military people who leave their service and decide to live in Hawaii. Franchising is a natural way to link their military experience to the skill sets needed to operate a business. Military people are use to rule structures, being on a schedule and delivering results. These are great attributes for a small business, as well. What they lack is the exact knowledge of what to do in a specific type of business. This is where the Franchisor comes in. They provide that knowledge and the former military folks do the rest! We, at Pacific Rim Business Consultants are offering several great franchise opportunities in Hawaii. Please call us at 808-744-1826 to discuss your goals and thoughts about Franchising. It is interesting to see what the rest of the world thinks about their present and future economic outlook compared to Hawaii's view. Pew Research recently surveyed several countries to get their views. In a survey of 48,643 people in 44 countries out Tuesday, the Pew Research Center found that 60 percent say their own country's economy is performing poorly. Dissatisfaction runs highest in the world's most advanced economies, where 64 percent say conditions are bad. In the United States, 58 percent give the American economy poor marks. The deepest despair was recorded in countries hit hardest by the European debt crisis: 97 percent of Greeks, 96 percent of Italians and 93 percent of Spaniards said their economies were performing poorly. Unemployment rates are extraordinarily high in all three: 27 percent in Greece, 13 percent in Italy, 25 percent in Spain. There are exceptions to the pervasive gloom: 89 percent of Chinese are positive about their country's economy, even though it's slowed markedly from the double-digit growth of a few years ago. In Vietnam, 87 percent of respondents gave the economy high marks. In Germany, 85 percent did. In the countries that Pew characterizes as "emerging economies," 59 percent said conditions were unsatisfactory. Only in low-income "developing economies" did a majority (51 percent) call economic conditions "good." Brazil has seen the steepest drop in economic confidence: Just 32 percent of Brazilians were positive about their economy, down from 59 percent in 2013. Perceptions are improving in the United Kingdom: Last year, just 15 percent said the U.K. economy was in good shape. This year, the figure had jumped to 43 percent. Eighty percent of Chinese said their economy would be stronger in a year, making them the world's most optimistic people. Just 15 percent of Japanese expected an improved economy next year, the lowest among the countries surveyed. " Hawaii on the other hand is experiencing pre-2008 visitors numbers and a whole new market is developing to serve Chinese visitors. At least through the foreseeable future, Hawaii's economy looks strong. Our biggest problem also lies in the same area of Developed Countries in that we have huge government obligations like funding government retirement programs that do no have a agreed to solution. Our largest industry, Tourism is showing record high occupancy rates. All in all, Hawaii is a great place to have a business. Not only will enjoy our beauty and our weather, you should enjoy our prosperity as well. Let us find that business for you by calling us at 808-744-1826 or visit our website at www.pacificrimbusinessconsultants.com. The time has come to get serious about selling your business. You have talked it over with your spouse, your children, and your best friend. You have concluded, "now is the time!" This decision faces most of the "Baby Boomers", the guys and gals who were fighting in the Viet Nam War or who remember the Korean War. It is very common for us to hear these thoughts once someone commits to selling their business. But are you really ready to sell just because you have determined its time? The honest answer for most people is no...they are not ready. Not ready for one very big reason! There books are not in order. The single biggest thing you can do to prepare for the sale of your business is to get your books in order. Think about it...if a buyer can't clearly see what they are buying why should they put a premium value on your business? Why should they agree with you over the price? Your books are like the a road map. They allow the buyer to follow the road to a final conclusion. Once you have your books in order call us at 808-744-1826. Pacific Rim Business Consultants stands ready to make the process of selling your business as easy and reasonable as possible. We are happy to speak to you about "this getting ready process" when you are ready. Visit our website at www.paicifrimbusinessconsultants.com which is loaded with good information about selling your business. Here is a thought for Small Business Owners in Hawaii. Many people don't realize that you don't have to use U.S. Currencies to settle debt. Why don't we just create our own Hawaiian Money and use it intra islands to settle our debts. The first thing this would do is show how important our local economy really is to the islands. When a dollar is spent, it usually turns over (5) times before it leaves the Hawaiian Economy. Our currency would be on par with U.S. Currency and could be converted at any Hawaiin Bank on a 1 to 1 basis. Countries like El Salvador, Ecuador, & the Turks & Cocoas Islands and others use US Currency as their currency with a one for one par value. We see no reason this couldn't be done in Hawaii. This simple change in state monetary policy when quickly identify the importance of local transactions. One other point, theoretically, tourists would take home some of their Hawaiian Dollars as souvenirs. If there were a set amount of money printed and never increased, this tourism depletion would also make the Hawaiian Dollar have even more buying power for local goods. Any comments out there? Thoughts, additions...to our comments? When you need creative solutions to small business problems and opportunities please call us (808)744-1826 and let us help. There is no charge for (1) hour of insightful discussion about the issues. Recently Bill O' Rielly of Fox News Channel sent his reporter, Jessie Waters to Oahu to interview our folks about why the state has so Liberal. The result of the interviews showed almost a total lack of interest in the State's politics. It turns out that Hawaii has the lowest voter turn out in the United States. This low turn out has turned Hawaii into a one party state, i.e., Democratic Party. Very few people know or even understand the legislative process in Hawaii. The result is a dedicated group of people, few in number who end up running the State government. Most of the political action takes place at the Primary Election Level, given that the Primary winner typically wins the General Election. This year may be different. Our Governor Abercrombie was dumped in the Primary (never happened before in American History) opening the way for new blood from the Democrats but the Repulicans are fielding a widly liked former local judge while the new Independent Party is offering up a former popular Mayor of Honolulu. This might just be the year for some real change in Hawaiian Politics. From our prospective, we would like to support the candidate with the best platform for small business. Hawaii...don't hang back...lead the nation in voter turnout and express your opinions at the polls. As we say in Hawaii...not vote, no talk story! . Hawaii is know for it's hotels located on some of the most scenic beaches in our beautiful islands. But what Hawaii has few of is Motels like you see on the mainland. Why? Our driving distances can be covered in hours not days and the longest drive would be the circle island drive on the Big Island. Put another way, there is little need for road side motels because there is little need for the road traveler to stay over night on any one island. The exception is the Big Island of Hawaii (about the same size as the state of Connecticut) where you do find a few properties that serve day traveling guests. Otherwise, our hotels large and small are positioned to serve the long stay tourist who has flown to their island of choice. One interesting note is that B&B's do exist on some of our islands. On Oahu there is an ordnance that makes operating a B&B illegal (but you do find illegal operations advertised on places like Craig's list). There are several on the Big Island, Maui and Kauai to choose from. B&B's can be interesting small businesses to operate since your home is your business. If you like interacting with people and enjoy serving up great Aloha Hospitality then a B&B might be your answer. If you would like to buy or sell a B&B, Motel or Hotel in Hawaii, give Pacific Rim Business Consultants a call at (808)744-1826. We have extensive experience with these types of businesses. Did you ever wonder what is the best food business to be in? Food in its' many forms is part of our daily routine. We have many forms of food offered to us from sit down restaurants to fast food. But which ones are the winners based on average sales per store? According to MSN Money Magazine, via Carol Tice, of Forbes Magazine, Chick-fil-A tops the list. The interesting thing about this company is that they operate only (6) days a week...never on Sunday. They average about $3.1 million dollars per year per store in top line sales, easily defeating McDonalds who holds the number two position at $2.6 million per store. Number three is one most of us would not be familiar with at $2.55 million per store...a company known as Jason's Deli out of Texas. Now one could argue that the top line is not as important as the bottom line. So you should keep in mind that efficiency of operations and management will pay a key role in bottom line performance. But having a "healthy top line" is always a nice thing to have. When seeking a franchise look at their history of success. The Franchise Circular Offering Document names each of the franchise owners and you are allowed to get in touch with them and ask questions. Doing business with the military in Hawaii can be good business. The combined military spending makes the military the second largest business in Hawaii. So it is very important the small business owner in Hawaii know how to do business with the military. No matter what you make or sell ( with very few exceptions) the military is likely a buyer. They love to do business with small business but you have to approach it correctly. One of the ways to do this is to go to www.sba.gov and search for doing business with the military. Here is a great website to help you through the process, https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Acquisitions-CG-9. This is the site for the U.S. Department of Defense which deals with all branches of the military. The only exception here would be the U.S. Coast Guard. Go to https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Acquisitions-CG-9 because the Coast Guard is controlled by the U.S. Homeland Security Administration. Many of you watch the show a TV called the "Sharks." It is an interesting reality show about real investors and real small business people looking to find money to build their businesses. One of the comments that comes from the Sharks quite often is whether the product is "scalable." Why do they ask this question and why is it so important to the possible investment they would like to make? Here is a definition of Scalable: Investopia says, "A characteristic of a system, model or function that describes its capability to cope and perform under an increased or expanding workload. A system that scales well will be able to maintain or even increase its level of performance or efficiency when tested by larger operational demands." Put another way the Sharks are saying the business can be expanded to fill the apparent need in the market. Expanded at a rate that is manageable and quite possibly delivered with less cost as production and marketing efficiencies increase. This wets their appetite for investment dollars because they see lots of profits in the future. Therefore, they try to make a deal with the small business entrepreneur that offers up the idea. A good idea turns into a great idea when it can reproduced in volume! show |
AuthorWill Rodgers, Founder of Pacific Rim Business Consultants Archives
August 2016
CategoriesIIUSA NewsSBA News |