Oregon Small Business Boost

Palo Alto software is giving away free copies of its Business Plan Pro software to Oregon businesses on Wednesday, July 1st.  You have to physically walk into one of the giveaway locations to get the certificate for the free copy, but I think it’s worth it to any business that wants to write or maintain its business plan.

More details are available at http://www.paloalto.com/boost/ and http://www.paloalto.com/boost/details.cfm.

Giveaway locations in Portland:

• African American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon & SW Washington
  4300 NE Fremont St. 3220, Portland OR 97213-1100
• Oregon Business Network
  City Hall
  1221 SW 4th Ave, Portland, OR 97204
• OEN
  309 SW Sixth Avenue, Suite 212, Portland, OR 97204
  503-222-2270 x13
• PABA (Portland Area Business Association)
  Urban Grind Coffee House
  2214 NE Oregon, Portland, OR
• PCC Small Business Development Center
  2025 Lloyd Center, Portland, OR 97232
  503-978-5088
• Clackamas SBDC
  7736 SE Harmony Rd, Portland, OR 97222
  503-594-0738

H/T Silicon Florist

Value Meal

I’m working with a team of three other students to perform a financial analysis of McDonald’s Corporation for a Valuation class this term.  We’re getting toward the end of the term, which means that for the next three weeks I’ll have to eat, sleep and breathe McDonald’s (kind of like Morgan Spurlock without the weight gain, or any of his numerous imitators without the weight loss).

It also means that I’m really excited that McDonald’s finally filed it’s 10-K for 2008.  I have a lot of reading to do.

The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan

For those of you who don’t know, Mark Cuban is a billionaire, and he has his own idea about how stimulate the economy:

Rather than trying to be a Venture Capitalist, I was looking for an idea that hopefully could inspire people to create businesses that could quickly become self funding. Businesses that just needed a jump start to get the ball rolling and create jobs. I’m a big believer that entrepreneurs will lead us out of this mess. I just needed a way to help.

…I will invest money in businesses presented here on this blog. No minimum, no maximum, but a very specific set of rules.

Mark calls his plan “open source funding,” because in order to seek funding from him, a business owner has to present their business plan on his blog with the intent that others may (and should) copy the plan in establishing their own businesses.

So far, Mark reports that he is considering funding 12 of the businesses that have been submitted on his blog, and appears to be open to more.

Can I just say that I love this idea!  Mark is actually stimulating the economy by helping build business and he’s doing it by investing, which will do much more for the economy, the businesses, and the people involved in both the long and short runs than any multi-billion dollar government boondoggle ever will.

The Bailout Game

An interesting little time-waster.

H/T Greg Mankiw

Buy Low, Sell High

Good luck trying to find anyone in the United States who hasn’t heard the advice to “buy low, sell high,” yet it’s becoming more and more difficult to find people who are actually willing to follow that advice.  That’s why I appreciate this editorial by Warren Buffet.  Read it — there’s a reason why Berkshire-Hathaway stock sells for over $100,000 per share and Buffet is considered to be the wealthiest man in the world.

An excerpt:

I’ve been buying American stocks…

Why?

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors…But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

Something Buffet does not point out here that I will is another big reason to buy U.S. stock right now: it’s one thing that anyone can do to help the economy.  As you invest, the stock you buy becomes more scarce, and therefore more valuable.  The company you have invested in has more money for new projects and new products, which in turn generate more revenue which also increases the value of the stock.  As the value of the stock increases, other investors are attracted to buy it and the cycle repeats.  It’s what keeps the market healthy and gets you the earnings that Buffet forecasts in his opinion piece.

Once again, I can’t tell you what to do with your money and you should always seek out a financial advisor before investing.  If you want my opinion, however, it’s this: buy low, buy now, buy American.