The truth is that coupons create a win-win situation for both companies and consumers. Manufacturers and stores are benefiting from coupons. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t issue them or accept them. To find out how they benefit, let’s examine some of the reasons why companies offer coupons.

To Get Consumers’ Attention

According to the Food Marketing Institute, the average supermarket carried 38,718 items in 2010. Out of thousands of products, companies need a way to steer consumers toward their product instead of a competitor’s, and a coupon can help an item stand out. If you have a coupon for a specific brand of paper towels, for example, it will probably be the first brand you’ll check the price on among the ten different brands in the paper towel aisle.

To Advertise a New Product
Consumers need to be enticed to take a chance on a new product, especially price-sensitive, coupon-using shoppers. A company could advertise its new product by offering free samples, but instead of spending money both on the product itself and on getting the product into consumers’ homes, it could offer a tempting, high-value coupon and actually make a sale. If the consumer likes the new product enough, they may buy it at full price in the future when introductory coupons are no longer available.

To Buy Loyalty
Numerous factors go into getting and retaining customers: merely offering a bargain price or a superior product isn’t always enough. When a store or manufacturer provides a coupon, the discount generates goodwill and brand/store loyalty. Think about how you feel when you get a coupon from your favorite store in the mail, doesn’t it make you feel like the company values your business and wants to keep you as a customer?

To Get Repeat Business
Some promotions require consumers to use a reward on their next visit to the store. Such coupons draw customers into the store once to buy something and get a coupon, and again to buy something else and use the coupon.

For example, a recent Albertsons’ grocery store promotion gave customers a coupon for $10 off their next visit when they purchased $100 in qualifying gift cards. Even if the customer did the bare minimum and walked out with $10 in free groceries on the follow-up visit, that customer might be more likely to come back in the future after having gained some familiarity with the store when they did their coupon shopping. Other customers will spend beyond the coupon limit, so the store might profit from the promotion right away. Also, the promotion notified customers that Albertsons is a place where they can buy gift cards, which means that the store might gain business the next time that customer wants to purchase a gift card.

To Target Their Marketing Efforts
To get the best discounts at most major grocery store chains, customers must sign up for a store loyalty card and have the cashier scan it each time they make a purchase. In exchange for giving customers lower prices, companies get detailed information about the card user’s buying behavior. What days and times does he or she visit the store? How much does he or she spend per trip? How often does he or she shop? What does he or she buy? Does he or she only buy things that are on sale? Does he or she always use coupons?

Companies can use this valuable information in their decisions about what products to carry, what prices to set, what to put on sale, how much of a discount to offer and more. This information also helps companies with targeted marketing efforts.

“Retailers are able to market to us much less expensively when they offer promotional programs that entice us to share our personal information with them,” says Stephanie Nelson, founder of CouponMom.com.

When companies know what you buy thanks to store loyalty cards, they can save money on marketing costs while sending you offers you’re more likely to use. Instead of sending a coupon for diapers to every household in a nearby zip code, the store can send diaper coupons only to customers who have purchased diapers in the past.

Message to Sellers: Don’t Miss Out
Nelson, who has been a strategic couponer for more than a decade, says that coupons “must be working, because businesses are putting out more promotions than ever.” She points out that companies can put any kind of limitations or exclusions on coupons that they want to, but says that “people are looking out for coupons. If any company wants to ignore couponing, they are missing out.”

The number of self-employed people has jumped to its highest level since records began nearly 20 years ago, official figures revealed yesterday.

Between August and October, 166,000 more people became self-employed, raising the total to 4.1million, the Office for National Statistics said.

Experts raised doubts over whether all of these were happy about the decision, or simply had no other option.

Michael Saunders, of investment bank Citigroup, said: ‘It may well be some, having lost their jobs, categorise themselves as self-employed but really are unemployed or at least under-employed.’

It comes at a time when there are said to be 461,000 vacancies in the UK.

John Philpott, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: ‘I do not think there has been a sudden surge of entrepreneurial zeal. This is people who cannot get a job picking up bits and pieces of work.

‘It is a sign of economic weakness, rather than strength.’

Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at the consultancy Capital Economics, said the jump is likely to reflect people ‘resorting to working for themselves.

Yesterday the Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, insisted the latest figures show ‘some signs that the labour market is stabilising’ but said the increase in unemployment was ‘unwelcome.’

Dr. Denis Waitley, shares the answer from his broad knowledge in self-development, high performance and personal success that he has gained from helping Super bowl, Olympic Champions, NASA astronauts, the US Army, foreign governments as well as educators and youth groups around the world.

Waitley, the bestselling author of The Psychology of Winning and The Seeds of Greatness, says the secret behind the successes of famous names such as Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, and even William Shakespeare is passion.

He saves some other examples:

Ross Perot, Forbes’ 57th-richest person in America was his big brother at the Naval Academy who went on to become a billionaire with Electronic Data Systems, a global business and technology services company. He was always a man of passion.

Ray Kroc was also passionate in what he believed in and founded MacDonald’s when he was 54.

Steven Spielberg did little home movies, where his theme was always about a great powerful figure that is going to save the world.

Andrew Lloyd Weber, wrote Cats, Evita and produced the Phantom of the Opera. When Weber was nine years old, he already displayed his passion for plays by creating a little home theater with puppets.

Denis’ was good friends with the late French underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau. Before his passing, Cousteau had told Denis that he broke both arms while watching a water spider taking a bubble of air down to her babies in a lake. In his passion for observing marine life, Cousteau invented the aqua lung which helps people to breath underwater for a short period of time after after observing the bubble of air in that spider.

Denis also gives the examples of passion in the lives of people like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Fred Smith of Federal Express and every great inventor or innovator.

He explains that these people weren’t trying to make money; they had an inner fire of passion to drive them, rather than a desire for wealth. He believes that most successful people achieve their greatness because they have something to express inside.

He stresses it is not the goal of such people to make a lot of money, but many of them earn a tremendous amount of money and respect because of their pursuit of their passion. He quotes famous figures such as Shakespeare, Thomas Edison, Estee Lauder and Walt Disney who made a lot of money but were far more interested their passion than money. The key to their success was their passion. It was their inner drive to create or provide something excellent in a product or service.

Denis calls this the “Stradivarius Effect”, named after Antonio Stradivari, the famous violin maker. It simply means, “the love to live by, uncovering and discovering one’s passion.” And that, according to Denis, is the secret to people who make millions.

Because of his extreme optimism, his unstoppable determination, and his incredible energy, Wayne Huizenga is able to build hugely successful enterprises.

One of my favorite entrepreneurs is Wayne Huizenga. He has had, in my opinion, three humble business ideas in his career.

When he was a garbage collection manager, he decided to build his own trash collecting business. That was a bad idea because the world didn’t need another trash collection company. Trash gets picked up pretty well. But nevertheless, he built his own trash collection business. And he turned it into a great multibillion-dollar worldwide organization, a Fortune 500 company, and a leader in environmental sustainability that was profitable and valuable to its customers, a great place to work, and an international powerhouse. You have heard of it: Waste Management, Inc.

The question is: Was it the idea or Wayne that made Waste Management such a successful American enterprise for tens of thousands of highly engaged employees and that created good jobs of all kinds? Most global thought leaders would believe it was Wayne’s good idea more than his entrepreneurship.

Wayne’s next idea was arguably worse. The big idea was to rent movie videos through branded outlets, malls, and small free-standing buildings. It didn’t sound very good to me — and I did much of the research on it for him. That became his second multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 company — Blockbuster, Inc. And Blockbuster, too, was a great American organization that created millions of customers and a hundred thousand new jobs.

And with that, Wayne did what no one had ever done before: He created two Fortune 500 companies in one lifetime. Was it the ideas that made them Fortune 500 companies and great places for thousands of people to work — or was it Wayne?

Then he had one more bad idea: a national chain of used car outlets. He called it AutoNation, Inc., and it became his third multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 company.

So what explains these staggering successes: the innovation or Wayne? This is a really important question because whatever idea Wayne chooses seems to become a good idea. The predicting variable of success in Wayne’s case is “Whatever idea Wayne chooses is a good idea because he makes its business model work.” It is not “Wayne is good at picking innovative ideas.”

But most thought leaders still believe it’s the second answer.

My hunch is that if you took away everything Wayne has — all his financial resources, management team, money, keys to his car — and put him in a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Miami, a multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 company would likely burst out of that room. Because of his extreme optimism, his unstoppable determination, and his incredible energy, Wayne is able to build hugely successful enterprises, and he doesn’t need a breakthrough innovation to do it.

It is wiser to study the person than the idea.

Hire a Tax Pro and an Attorney. It’s part of the cost of doing business and is highly recommended by many experts, not just us tax pros and attorneys. Richard Kiyosaki, in his book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” stresses the importance of having a team of legal and accounting/tax experts to guide you through the process. Pound for pound, their advice will save you money in the long run. Tax planning, entity selection, financial analysis, and setting up accurate books are integral to your success.

Find Free Workshops. The IRS hosts free workshops on a regular basis for people opening a business. Taking one of these workshops will save a lot of money in consulting fees with your tax pro, attorney, and bookkeeper. Check out this link to find a workshop near you. The Small Business Administration is another good source for counseling and loans.

Get in on Government Contracts. The current administration has increased the amount of government contracts provided to small business to 30% and is improving timely payment to terms of Net 60. Contact your local trade association to find out how to land government contracts or check out the listings on the government’s website.

Find out if You Need to Make Estimated Tax Payments. Now that you aren’t having taxes withheld from a paycheck, you will be required to make quarterly estimated tax payments on your profit. Ask your tax pro to help you determine how much you must pay. Note that you will also be funding your Social Security and Medicare accounts (this is known as self-employment tax) as well as prepaying your income tax liability when you make estimated tax payments.

The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%.  I’ve seen so many small businesses suffer and get into tax trouble because they were not aware and/or did not budget for this expense.

Set up an Accounting Program. QuickBooks and many other software programs are used widely by most businesses and bookkeepers for tracking income and expenses because they are inexpensive and user friendly. As an entrepreneur, you want to be able to analyze your finances and track your hard-earned money. If you hate numbers, hire a bookkeeper to perform this task and provide input about your financial situation.

Properly Classify the Workers You Hire. Check out the IRS standards for determining if you must put a worker on payroll or if you can classify him as an independent contractor.

It is crucial to understand this concept. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can hire someone and pay them on a 1099 if he doesn’t qualify as an independent contractor.

Here’s a story for you: A client of mine hired his workers and paid them on 1099s rather than withholding taxes and paying his share of employment taxes. He fired one worker who then applied for unemployment benefits. Naturally, the worker didn’t qualify because he was considered self-employed. This set off alarms at the state unemployment office. They proceeded to audit the employer, reclassified all 1099 workers as employees, and hit the employer with a tax bill so high it put him out of business. Ouch!

Learn the Rules for What You Can Deduct. I was recently surprised when a client asked me if she could write off her professional liability insurance. Of course you can! Don’t overlook deductions. For the most part, the IRS allows you to deduct any expense that is considered “ordinary and necessary to your trade or business.” Start a new mindset and ask yourself, “Am I making this purchase because of my business?” If yes, it’s possible the expense will be a partial or total write off. Think in terms of whether you would have incurred the expense if you didn’t have a business.

Illegal activities: speeding tickets to make that 9:00 a.m. business meeting, parking tickets, or bribing public officials to grant your bid, are not valid deductions.

One of the best things I can tell you is to learn the rules for travel, meals, and entertainment. Just because you take a potential client to a ball game doesn’t mean you can write it off. Check out IRS Publication 463 available at www.irs.gov. In fact, cruise the IRS website to get information about other topics related to self-employment.

And best of luck to you! Being self-employed with all its ups and downs can be a gratifying experience.

Three of Robert’s books, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Rich Dad’s CASHFLOW Quadrant, and Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing, have simultaneously been on the top 10 best-seller lists of The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the New York Times.

In this Q&A interview with Alex Pirouz, Robert Kiyosaki discusses what it takes to be successful in business, the No 1 skill every entrepreneur should learn and the five qualities required by every entrepreneur in order to become successful.

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

It takes ambition and the desire to truly master the art and science of becoming a successful entrepreneur. And in my opinion ambition is far more important than brains, because if you have ambition you can always hire good brains.

What is your number one rule of thumb in business?

The more people we serve, the more money we make. It’s as simple as that

Do you think it is easier now than when you first started?

Well, first of all, it’s never easy; but in this day and age technology and the internet have made access to global markets a lot more accessible.

What is the number one skill an entrepreneur should learn?

I think it’s raising capital for their business. In today’s world you have to be so damn good for people to give you money, you need to be proven because there are simply too many unethical people out there. Most entrepreneurs do not know how to do this and are therefore limited in how much they can grow.

Do you think there are generic qualities required to be a successful entrepreneur?

Me and Donald (Donald Trump) have put together, based on our experiences, five qualities that all successful entrepreneurs require which combined gives them the Midas Touch. The first quality every entrepreneur needs to possess is strength of character. In business, many times an entrepreneur is tested, and as you become more and more successful the more you are tested, so how you show up as a person is a good indication of the type of entrepreneur you are.

The next quality is the ability to stay focused. F.O.C.U.S means Follow One Course Until Successful – the emphasis here being on Until Successful. Most entrepreneurs fail because they lack the strength of character and the ability to stay on course until successful.

The third quality is relationships. Whenever you find a struggling business, a bad marriage, or an investment gone bad, you will find a bad partner. This does not mean the person is a bad person. It just means they are a bad partner, the wrong person for the task. Working with the right partners is essential to becoming a successful entrepreneur because at the end of the day you can’t do a good deal with a bad partner.

The fourth quality is an entrepreneur’s ability to build a brand. Many entrepreneurs work hard building a business, but only a few build a brand. Building your business into a brand is essential in developing the Midas Touch. For example, the Coca-Cola brand is worth much more than all the building plants, equipment, and capital goods making up the business.

The fifth and final quality comes down to getting the little things done. Too many entrepreneurs think small and fail to focus on the little things that count.

What should an entrepreneur look for when bringing on board a new business partner?

In a partner you are looking for someone with synergy, a person who shares the same values and mission, and can bring something to the table that you do not have.

What is the number one skill you possess that has allowed you to succeed in business?

I would have to say personal development. It has taught me to be truthful to myself and other people. I always seek professional help from my list of advisors and occasionally I see a therapist because to be an entrepreneur you have to be nuts.

Why did you decide to be an entrepreneur?

I decided to be an entrepreneur because I didn’t want to be limited by how much I could earn and essentially I didn’t want to be poor. Every year my wife and I set goals on how much money we want and over time we have realised that to earn more you have to give more.

lex Pirouz is the founder of RIDC Advisory Pty Ltd. A Business and Sales Advisory firm partnering with Australia’s largest and fastest growing companies to further increase their revenue.

If you’re in college and want to start a business, you may be like I was and just tell yourself to wait until you graduate.

It may look like it’s easier, but trust me: there is no better time to start your business than while still in college.

Here are 5 reasons why.

1. Free Time

Ok, yes, I understand you have a full schedule of classes and lots of homework and extracurricular activities like excessive partying, but when you’re in college, you have far fewer responsibilities than when you graduate.

As such, you have the ability to control your schedule. You can move your class schedules around, or maybe even decide to take a night off from partying.

And don’t forget about your summer breaks.

Right now, you have far more free time than you’ll have again in your life.

2. Free Resources

You may not realize it, but your school’s library is a gold mind of information for an entrepreneur. Not only can you find almost every business book ever published, but you have completely free access to electronic databases that cost over $10,000 a month.

These databases give you access to information that can help you plan your business, such as industry and market research.

3. Publicity

Your college campus is one of the strongest social networks. Think about it: you live, work, and sometimes even sleep with these people. And when you’re not with them, you’re connected over the internet.

Some of the fastest growing businesses launched out of college campuses. Think Facebook and Napster.

Tap into your college network and use it to launch your business into viral fame.

4. Business Plan Competitions

Almost every college holds business plan competitions and have healthy rewards.

A friend of mine entered a business plan competition at his school and won over $25,000, which he used as seed money.

Go to your college’s business school and find out when the next business plan competition is.

5. Your Professors Will Help You

You may find your professors’  lectures boring, but you can’t deny they really know their stuff. They can help you with your business.

For instance, one of my professor owned an advertising agency. She helped me figure out the advertising for my business. My finance professor helped me with the financial aspects of my business. And one even introduced me to a number of successful entrepreneurs who guided me with my launch.

And the best part: professors actually WANT to help you.

So, as I said, there’s no better time to start a business than while you’re in college. If you’ve been considering starting your own business, it’s time to start right now.

Based on a book by Robert Kiyosaki, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” ostensibly draws from the author’s upbringing and outlines a philosophy of financial independence through investment, real estate, business ownership and other ventures.
It spawned a series of books, games, lectures, and other audio and visual materials.

Critics have said, however, that the Rich Dad brand simply hawks dubious tips through a wide variety of products.
John T. Reed, who secured his MBA at Harvard Business School, has blasted the book for dispensing “much wrong advice, much bad advice, some dangerous advice, and virtually no good advice.”

In September 2005, The Learning Annex and the companies behind the Rich Dad brand met to discuss potential marketing and expansion through a free seminar program, a PBS show and introductions to potential business partners.

In return, The Learning Annex stood to gain a share of the resulting increase in revenues.
Both parties signed a contract days after the meeting, but the agreement fell apart when Rich Dad allegedly pulled out of the contract by email on Feb. 2, 2010.

Rich Dad then allegedly pursued a partnership with Russ Whitney, a man memorably dubbed as a “real estate evangelist” in Reed’s critical New York Times profile.
(That article spurred a lawsuit between Reed and Whitney, reportedly settled under confidential terms.)

The Learning Annex claimed that Rich Dad specifically denied talking to Whitney, then sued both parties on various charges. It later withdrew all claims against Whitney and went to trial against Rich Dad for breach of duty, quantum meruit and unjust enrichment.
A jury awarded $14.6 million to Learning Annex LLC and Learning Annex Holdings LLC on July 13.

Trying to head off defeat, Rich Dad argued that neither of these parties could collect because the interest in the lawsuit was held in another entity, Learning Annex LP.

To resolve the controversy, U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin accepted the Learning Annex’s motion to add its LP as another party on Wednesday.

 “Do or die” situation often brings out huge success because I believe people will generally exceed expectations when they are faced in a difficult situation (of course, some would crumble and flee from challenges…)

Aggressive risk-takers pursue “high risk, high gain” business opportunities, with a hope of striking a gold vein and being showered in riches. Some made it, but unfortunately, many fall deep into financial troubles – that almost always includes personal finances.

Why? Because aggressive risk-takers are going all out, including sacrificing their personal finances – in short, they put everything at stake. That is not really entrepreneurship – that’s more like gambling with “winners take all” principle.

In my opinion, when you are single responsible to nobody but yourself, you could take the all-out approach. However, if you have a family to support and/or are the primary bread winner of your family, going all-out is probably the biggest business mistake of all.

A story of a friend

I have a friend who works in a family business. His father, still running the small business, is a great risk taker. He has won big in the past, but he has also lose a couple of deals, including getting scammed by a partner in a half-million dollars deal – something that cause his family to go through deep financial problems.

Still recovering from the loss, my friend and his father are working on a deal worth that much. The catch: My friend – who also runs his own business – has to support his parents because all of his parents’ money is staked on the deal.

That is not a success story – yet – as the deal is in progress.

But here’s a think to ponder: What if the deal went off? This is not about seeing a glass half empty; this is about securing your personal finance while taking on business opportunities – because sometimes, you need to choose between pursuing a high-risk-high-gain business opportunities or ensuring your family welfare.

What I recommend

Maybe I am not a gutsy entrepreneur like my friend and his father, but I like my entrepreneurial journey to progress in a well-planned manner, especially financial-wise. I allocate my eggs into many “baskets” that include retained earnings to grow my business, investing (mainly in precious metals,) personal savings account, and some others. And yes, I don’t do stocks. By having multiple baskets, I spread risks to minimise damages when things go wrong.

Sure, surprises will happen on regular basis – that’s how entrepreneurship works, but I follow Rich Dad Poor Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki’s advice to manage my risk. I believe that taking steps not knowing what will happen as the consequences is risky.

I’m not an expert, so take this as a friendly suggestion, rather than a professional advice… I want every business decision I make to have a cushion or a safety net – just in case what I work on fails. I need to reassure that when I fail, I will be able to move on immediately, as I expect to fail a lot in order to achieve success (failure is my friend!)

I don’t know your financial situation right now, but I suggest you to strategise your plans with your hard-earned money. I don’t think going all-out is a good idea – it’s better to use other people’s money (bank loans, investor’s money, etc.) instead of staking ever penny you have in your business.

So – how about you? Are you a risk-taker who are willing to stake everything to achieve big success or a risk-taker who works on achieving your goal via strong risk management?

How he did it: Many celebrities have gotten into the booze biz others include Justin Timberlake and Sean “Diddy” Combs. But Aykroyd’s brand has earned some admiring attention within the liquor industry.

While he boasts about his vodka’s ingredients, observers say he’s also been a relentless marketer, appearing at dozens of promotional events and overseeing the design of the eye-catching packaging, inspired by his interest in the supernatural. “It’s not like he put his name on it and left it at that,” says Eric Schmidt, a director of the Beverage Information Group, which tracks the spirits business.

Why he did it: Aykroyd’s first foray into the booze biz was as cofounder of a distributor. Launching his own vodka brand was a logical way to extend the enterprise, though Aykroyd had to tap the college fund for his three daughters to create Crystal Head. “It was all the cash I had lying around,” he says, “so I said to the girls, ‘We’re going into the vodka business!’” But he hopes that in addition to paying dividends now, the project will become a business his kids can take over one day a meaningful alternative, financial pros say, to simply leaving them a large inheritance.