“Big mistake. Big. Huge. I have to go shopping now.” – Vivian (Julia Roberts), Pretty Woman (1990)

IDC and Gartner recently reported 68.5M consumer PCs were sold in Q3 of this year and volumes could hit 70M in Q4. We’re well on our way to the industry’s next big goal…2B PCs WW. The CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) estimates CE sales will hit $48.1 B in Q4 producing modest industry growth for the year. All in all, not bad for a lackluster year.

We’ve done a good job of profiling and targeting the early adopters. Looking at our kids list of “gotta have” stuff, they’ve nailed the teens, tweens and Gen Yers. Watching the Wii commercials with old dudes bowling, they’ve tapped into the boomers+. Problem is we’ve only given lip service to half of the global population…women, even lady geeks. Maybe the problem is exactly as Sean Connery stated…“I like women. I don’t understand them, but I like them.”
This epiphany came to us as we tried to figure out why our 1TB home server was already half full. Turned out the files were typical of most consumers’ home system storage – digital photos, music, video clips, personal videos, etc. Very little of it was ours ! That got us to thinking…and wondering…

Fearing The Unknown
Why is the industry doing such a poor job in reaching the female segment of the market? It might be as Warren Farrell said, “The only men who aren’t in fear of women’s reactions are usually men who aren’t born or who are dead.”

While most firms – manufacturers and retailers – may not fear women, only a few have really tried tapping into this half of the buying public. BestBuy has a separate team that focuses on reaching the female technology/CE consumer. Many of the camera manufacturers have introduced female-friendly devices.
MP3 player producers are doing a decent job.

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Figure 1 – “Look, I’m all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I’m being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I’m going wherever they value loyalty the most.” – Dwight Schrute – The Office, ABC-TV

Seriously… Tim Berners-Lee had no idea how huge his concoction was going to be when he first unleashed the Web on the world. Like the Internet itself, all he wanted to do was make it possible for researchers to share/update information with other researchers. Somewhere along the way, it got “a little” outta’ hand! Well, not really. There’s just a little chasm between boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Yers.

There’s also a little chasm between C-level execs, marketing/communications, workers. There’s little to no chasm between work and home. In “the company”:

• 93% own a cellphone, compared to 78% of industrial country adults
• 85% have a desktop computer, compared to 65% of all adults
• 61% own a laptop, compared to 39% of all adults
• 27% own a Blackberry, iPhone or similar device, compared to 13% of all adults

For the most part, all generations, work levels agree that these and other technologies have had a positive effect on their productivity.

Figure 2 – Technology Helps – Regardless of the generation, company personnel feel that today’s advanced technology has helped them become more productive in their jobs. Source – Kelly Services

They use their computers, use email and most even use an Internet browser. The majority (90%) believes the new technology; new software helps them perform better, faster. C-level executives see the social networking tools as a means of achieving marketing/sales success, but don’t think it’s for use by everyone.

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Growth–too much, too fast, too soon–can be a direct cause of failure. The same is true for organizations that see growth as the only way to survive.

”We must achieve 20% growth at all cost,” has lead to the demise of PC/CE companies throughout the industry. The drive in a down economy is a sure road to disaster.

The problem is, no one wants to stand still. It’s not “The American Way”. Each of us starts a company with one objective: to grow…to gain greater stature and increase profits.

And why not? We’re constantly bombarded with “bigger is better”.

Look at the business pages. You never see an item on a company that’s growing slowly or maintaining status quo. But financial editors aren’t to blame for covering the growth of companies, growth of stocks, growth of industries. People want to be associated with winners. And when they invest, they want their companies to grow in sales, profits and market value.

As a result, the desire to grow becomes compulsive.

It’s also true that there are times that when a business stops growing, it begins to wither and die.

Unfortunately for many management groups, growth for the sake of growth has become the all-consuming objective. If you aren’t achieving the same level of growth and expansion than those in your market segment you are obviously not living up to your fullest corporate potential. Nearly every other consideration takes a back seat to this golden grail.

Don’t get us wrong. Growth is necessary. And growth isn’t necessarily bad. But it takes a lot of planning and preparation.

Your Objective…ROI
Growth and size may contribute to an organization’s temporary well being, but offer no assurance of long-term health.

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Nothing focuses the mind better than the constant sight of a competitor who wants to wipe you off the map.– Wayne Calloway

When Eric Schmidt (Google) said he paid a premium of one billion for YouTube he spelled out part of the strategy companies increasingly use to compete – acquire for growth or to block competition. The old management stigma of NIH (not invented here) has been replaced by the scramble to keep up with or lead the pack at almost any cost. With the world economy showing signs of recovering, companies are positioning themselves for the next phase of growth, the next big thing! Companies that were started two – three and more years ago nursed their activities along paying close attention to their cash flow to bring their products, services and technology along waiting for the business climate to improve. Admittedly the climate for IPOs (initial public offering) is weak – not even considering the fiscal and physical toll it takes on the company – all indicators point to a pent-up M&A activity and enthusiasm for the coming.

Mind-boggling, record-breaking numbers have grabbed the headlines:

• Dell buying Perot Systems for $3.9 billion
• Cisco acquiring Tandberg for $3 billion
• Adobe buying Omniture for $1.8 billion
• VMware grabbing SpringSource for a lowly $420 million
• Intuit snapping up PayCycle and Mint for a lousy $170 million each

These are only the tip of the iceberg. Tons of friendly and unfriendly M&A deals are being pursued or speculated:

• HP and Polycom
• Oracle checking out SuccessFactors, Taleo, Concur, RightNow, NetSuite, Citrix, ???
• Dell, Nokia and HP watching Palm’s struggles
• Google promising a buy a month

Many more “discussions” are started and broken off.

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The word ‘Autoresponders’ has been used more and more over the last few months and pretty much all of us have now experienced them even if you don’t yet realise it. 

But just what is an autoresponder and why should you think about using one in your business? 

Well, let me explain. 

The simplest form of an autoresponder is when you send a message to someone and you immediately receive an email back that tells you that person is out of office. This email will have been sent automatically (no human response was required) and it will have responded to you – hence the name autoresponder. 

You will have also probably seen an autoresponder if you’ve purchased products off of a website. Take Amazon for example or Ebay. If you’ve purchased something from Amazon or made a bid on Ebay, the chances are high that you will have immediately received an email from the company confirming your purchase or your bid.  

And you may have seen autoresponders at work if you’ve subscribed to a newsletter from a website. In most cases now, you will have immediately receive an email from the company concerned welcoming you to the website with a copy of the newsletter. 

Now, trust me when I say that a human is not sitting there at all times of the day or night responding to messages that come in from a website or order confirmations – these emails are sent automatically from you by a computer programme that has been specifically written for this purpose. 

But, why should you care? What has this got to do with your business? 

Now (hopefully) you’ve got your head around what an autoresponder is, I want you just to think for a minute about the power of autoresponders and how they can help your business. 

Imagine that while you’re on holiday, a potential customer visits your website.

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Perhaps you’ve heard that sharing Features, Advantages and Benefits is a more effective approach than just feature dumping on our prospective customers. But do we effectively do that in our sales conversations?

Let me share a simple experience where a young shoe salesman did this well. We need shoes and since we are on our feet a lot, we select some that are comfortable, yet stylish to wear at work.

I was window shopping in Puerto Vallarta. Along the way a very stylish, yet simple pair of Italian, two-tone brown loafers caught my eye in a little shoe store off the cobblestone street. Thinking I was only looking, I stepped into the store to check them out. I picked them up and quickly put them down, as my initial reaction was, “Wow…that is not cheap!”

My young and very wise shoe expert approached and engaged me in conversation about my visit to the store, to Puerto Vallarta, and what I did for a living. I made the mistake of telling him I was a professional speaker who traveled sharing ideas on how others could be more successful in their lives, careers, sales, etc. (Guess he figured I could really afford them… smile.)

Picking up the shoes and holding them with reverent care, he said, “You know, when you wear these traditional Italian loafers, in these rich spring hues, you’re going to have a big smile on your face because ‘one of the great things’ about these shoes is they’re soft calfskin leather with a full leather lining. And as you wear them, they will mold to the shape of your feet, giving you a custom-made feel.” He continued, “It would be fun to walk around in custom-made shoes, don’t you think?”

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As a selling professional, I would expect you have created a simple system to record your sales activities and results. Hopefully you are recording and measuring these areas on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.

• Sales to new customers
• Sales to repeat customers
• Sales presentations and closed sales (closing ratios)
• Sales to referrals vs. cold calling or walk in customers
• Other metrics of importance as discussed with your manager

Like many of you, I am not a fan of paperwork. I have learned it is necessary to help me succeed in achieving what I want in life, and so I invest my time to improve my ongoing results.

Recording your activity on a consistent basis gives you some solid metrics to evaluate and will often reveal areas that you can work on to enhance your selling abilities and results.

You can’t improve what you can’t identify.

I challenge you to invest time (5 mins a day; 30 minutes a week; an hour a month; or a day at the end of your year) evaluating your activities and your results.

I can guarantee you’ll be more in touch with the ‘reality’ and connections between your activities and results. In addition, you’ll be in a good position to make productive changes that will increase your closing ratios, earn more money, and build a better repeat and referral customers base.

Remember, what gets measured gets done. Make it a point to reward what you want to see. Treat yourself when you increase your results.

What do your activities and measurements reveal?
As you evaluate your measurements, ask yourself a few ‘honest’ questions:

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What kind of buyer are you?
If you are normally a ‘price’ buyer and your prospective customer raises objections to the price, you may be more open to accept their objection as real.

If you are the kind of person who tends to ‘think it over’ before you buy and your customer says, “I want to think it over;” you may tend to go along, as this objection makes senses or sounds rational. After all, that is the way ‘you’ buy.

The objection you will normally find the most challenging will be the one that is the most‘consistent’ with your own value system and past track record.

By accepting sales objections that make sense or resonate with you, because you can relate to them, you are essentially projecting your personal attitudes into the sales process. Hold on!

This is not your role as a selling professional. And, for the record, just because someone says the price is too high, does not always mean ‘they’ believe it. I’ve had folks say ‘that’ and go on to invest even more in the final results.

When you project your personal bias into the sales process you wrongly assume that everyone buys like you do and for the same reasons. And, conversely, that they don’t buy for the same reasons.

People make decisions to buy for their own reasons. Sometimes they even buy items they don’t need. And, as you probably know they don’t always tell you (the sales person) the truth.

This erroneous attitude and action will cost you customers and money.

Your role is to be a neutral in the sales process, there to help, to provide solid resources, to guide, and to nudge for a buying decision.

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Part three: The following ideas have proven effective for the Business enhancement success of ‘any’ business. Fill in the ‘__________’ with your field, and apply accordingly.

Sell an inexpensive ‘introductory’ product:
If you are in a position where you have a product line, make it easy for people to start dealing with you. Find something that they will enjoy using and get them on your client list. Perhaps you can also offer something for ‘free’ to get them hooked? Not necessarily a ‘loss-leader,’ perhaps something that is inexpensive and will demonstrate your ability to deliver when you say you will, as well as introduce them to what you have to offer.

Use business discussion and news groups:
Internet based groups are a source of business research and if you are careful a source of subtle self promotion and awareness. A word of caution here, don’t be overtly commercial as it will backfire on you big time!  Selectively use online social media as a way of building connections and credibility.

Personalize with your picture:
People like to deal with real people. Even if your business is internet based, they like to know that there is a real person behind the product or service they acquire from you. As speakers and trainers especially, we are in the personal services business. Make sure it is a current picture and that it shows you smiling.  Personalize your business – you’ll be glad you did!

Up-sell to all of your clients …add on, premium, extras, and related items:
This is one of the success secrets of generating additional business and increasing your bottom line. Design what you offer so you can provide a choice of at least three levels: good, better, best and then offer it to each client. Give them a choice with at least 3 alternatives.

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Part Two: The following ideas have proven effective for the Business enhancement success of ‘any’ business. Fill in the ‘__________’ with your field, and apply accordingly.

Build rapport with clients …teach or provide something new:
I got my start in the speaking and training business, as a kitchen designer, by offering in-house and continuing education programs to assist my potential clients in their quest for a better kitchen. I wrote, “How to Remodel Your Kitchen & Stay Married!” as a tool to help them prepare and survive the ‘marriage stretching’ kitchen or bathroom renovation.

In any business, we are more successful when perceived as value-added or solutions-oriented.  Ensure they see that you are there to help and are committed to their success.  I thank my clients for allowing me to be a part of their success team in their training programs or conferences. It is a statement of commitment on my part and a reminder to me to always seek to add value and build on the relationship. It helps with the referrals as well.

Promote your delivery time-lines and unique strengths:
Do you have something special you ‘do’ in relation to how quickly you can respond, a service, or deliver on a request?  Is there a way to capitalize on something you do and do consistently well.

One of the ways I service this meetings market is by providing complimentary copies of my ‘How to Host a Successful Meeting, Training Session, or Convention” e-book which uses some of the custom checklists and resource materials developed to help the meeting planner succeed.

Co-promote with strategic alliances:
Our global economy is getting more competitive on an hourly basis. 

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The following ideas have proven effective for the Business enhancement success of ‘any’ business. Fill in the ‘__________’ with your field or business, and apply accordingly.

However, since I am primarily in the speaking and training business, I will share ideas drawn from what I am learning in my quest to make what I do more productive and profitable. Ideas to make sure I stay competitive in this growing and globally competitive field. My speaking has taken me to 9 countries on 4 continents, so far. I am sure you will be able to see how you can apply them to your specific areas of concern.

Use client testimonials:
People hire speakers and trainers based on several factors: They have heard us speak personally; someone they trust has heard us; or another speaker, trainer or client has heard us and says nice things about what we did for them. They do not normally hire on the basis of a cold call. They may if the timing is correct, but will still go back to one of the above three factors as a part of their decision process.

This applies to any business format, and is important, as it helps minimize the risk factor in the decsion process to engage or do business with us. How can you ensure your clients talk about what you’ve done for them? How do you get them to do so? Who have you successfully served who would be willing to tell the world what a great job you did? Ask them!

Two points: 1) Do a simply outstanding job and keep in touch afterwards – remember out of sight out of mind and; 2) Ask them to give you feedback on what you did and how it affected or assited them in their business. Ask for quantified answers, if you can get them, as they are more effective tools. Ask permission to quote!

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Remember growing up and being dared to do something? Remember how often you actually accomplished it, in spite of your own self doubts and fears? Let me tell you the quick story of a young man named Bill, who responded to a personal DARE and changed his world and perhaps ours as well.              

Bill was not a healthy boy. His family moved from the country to the city where he encountered a teacher who was serious about health. As he wrote later, ‘It was like he had singled me out.” His teacher, George Krall challenged him and said, “I dare you to be the healthiest boy in class!“

Young Bill responded and soon built a body that equalled and outlasted the strongest boys in his class. He never lost a day at work because of illness and lived a healthy and productive life. He passed away in 1955, at 85, when the average life expectancy was a good 20 years lower, in part because he responded to that dare.

Bill launched a company which grew to be one of North America’s largest corporations, providing employment for thousands of people. People who were challenged or dared by their president and later Chairman of the Board to push themselves to be strong, to be creative, to take risks, to build character, and to share with others.  For nearly 40 years, Bill wrote a weekly inspirational “Monday Morning Message” for his employees, colleagues, and associates.  

In a 1955 Monday Morning Message, when he was 84, he pointed out the personal significance of some of these unchanging fundamentals. “Some folks are continually making changes,” he said. “I flatter myself that I like new ventures and new experiences. But when it comes to fundamentals, I believe in finding the right foundations and building on them. I’m a poor changer.

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Sometimes in business or life, we encounter ‘pivotal’ points where we have the opportunity thrust upon us to make changes.  A death, a major illness, or a major economic upheaval can force us to take stock of our lives at that point, and make changes.  But isn’t it better to seize the opportunities to change and grow as a choice?  Entrepreneurs carve out their success by doing just that. It is better to be someone who is open to learn, to stretch and push yourself past your comfort zone into what I call ‘the Winner’s Zone’.  This change is a choice!  Life is a series of changes and choices; why not control the direction and pace?

“Searching for the peak performer within yourself has one basic meaning: You recognize yourself as a person who was born, not as a peak performer but as a learner.  With the capacity to grow, change, and reach for the highest possibilities of human nature, you regard yourself as a person in process.  Not perfect, but a person who keeps asking: What more can I be?  What else can I achieve that will benefit me and my company?  That will contribute to my family and my community?” Charles Garfield, Peak Performers

Ask yourself a few questions and allow your honest reactions to reflect the changes in your attitudes, and actions that need to be addressed to maximize your life, your career or your organization.

What do I really want to have my life to accomplish?  What is my biggest dream?

What am I afraid of?  What is stopping me?

What do I need to change to make it work?

When will I commit to start making these changes?

Will you have the courage to change?  Will you commit to being the best you can be, and all that God intended you to become?  Remember the words of J.C.

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Here is a quick synopsis of my keynote delivered in front of 600 Alberta mayors, reeves and councillors in Edmonton, Alberta following a provincial election in 2001, covering the Seven Laws of Leadership.

Example – people need to be able to depend on your leadership

Today more than ever, people are looking for leaders who will lead by example in their dealings with people, and their lifestyles.

Communication – people need to know what you are saying

Today more than ever, people are looking for clarity and consistency in our written and oral communications. They are looking for honesty and openness in the dialogue they have with us as leaders.

Ability – you need to be capable of leading other people

Today more than ever, people are looking for more than a slick appearance. They want content and proven ability they can trust to get them through the increasing challenges of the 21st Century.

Motivation – you need to know why you want to be a leader

Today more than ever, people want to know why you are doing what you are doing, and so do you! A simple ‘trust me’ won’t cut it.

Authority – people need to respond to your leadership

Today more than ever, people want to be able to see demonstrated commitment and power in your decisions and authority in your actions.

Strategy – you need to know where you are going

Today more than ever, people want to know you have a plan, and one that is well thought out, covering all the contingencies and challenges. And they want to know the details of that strategy before they agree to follow you.

Love/compassion – you need to care for the people around you

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The foundations of creative leadership start with taking personal responsibility for our actions as part of a group; in feeling confidant enough to suggest and accept revisions in team goals and performance. To successfully learn new styles of creative thinking and applied problem-solving, we must take personal leadership in using them, and in the interaction with our fellow workers and clients.

Peter Drucker said,” Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things.” Handling problems, challenges and mistakes, effectively, depends on being able to cut to root causes, and to develop real actionable solutions.

I challenge you to discover new approaches to the problems you encounter; to see them as opportunities to grow and change the way you live, lead, or do business. A wise man told me; “My ability to earn would be directly dependent on my ability to solve problems.” In business, we are essentially paid for our ability to solve our client’s problems by the provision of innovative, productive services or products.

Creativity tools and tips can be applied in at least two directions:

• Problem solving
• Strategic planning

“Effectiveness – often survival – does not depend solely on how much effort we expend, but on whether or not the effort we invest is in the right direction.”

It has been my experience that creativity tools help in the process of defining the direction, and outlining the process needed to successfully reach the goals you set, or in solving perplexing problems you encounter enroute.

Some of the leadership objectives would be:

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You’ve decided it’s time to launch your PR campaign.  You’re ready to move forward.  Now you need to figure out who your public relations partner in this journey is going to be.  Believe me, it is a journey (and can be a great one) and in the best of cases the PR company that you choose is going to be functioning as a trusted partner, at least in this one arena.  But how do you pick a firm that fits your particular needs?

The first mistake that you want to avoid is to only consider companies that specialize in your field.  You definitely want to consider them in the mix, but what you’re primarily looking for is a firm that knows PR, that knows how to develop and place stories in the media, if they’re good, they can use their expertise and know-how and apply that to any field.  Remember, PR is a communication business, for it to truly work, you need to be able to comfortably communicate with them and they need to expertly craft your message and communicate that to the media.  The following are a few topics to consider and questions to ask, when interviewing a PR firm.

Questions to ask your potential PR firm:
1)  How long have they been in business and which media outlets have they placed stories in?

2) How they would define a successful campaign.  Get a sense of their mindset and how they view the process.  Discuss how you would define success and see if there is a common thread.

3) How do they work when it comes to developing story ideas?  Are they looking for you to do all of the work?  Are they asking you for the story ideas and then simply turning those into pitches or are they a firm that will work with you to develop creative and unique pitch ideas?

4) What do they see as your campaign’s greatest potential strengths?

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Many new adventures and possibilities have come into our lives with the addition of the internet and the increased use of our computers.  Some of the greatest possibilities have included the many business opportunities if offers. Many people have found lucrative and rewarding ways to work from home on the internet. The internet offers more possibilities than you’d ever imagine. If you went to one of the major search engines and typed in “work from home on the internet” or “work from home program”, you’d be amazed at the hundreds, no, thousands of results you’d get from your search. Your next search would be for the best work from home program. Here is where it gets difficult.

What are your interests? What are you skills? Once you determine the answer to these two questions, you’re well on way to finding more money making opportunities than you ever imagined. If you spend a lot of time browsing through EBay and the many other online auction sites, you’ll offers to auction other people’s merchandise as a work from home program. You sign up for the program and list their items and wait for them to sell. Once they sell, you get part of the proceeds. This is just one way you can work from home on the internet.

You may also find many jobs in your area that allow you to work from home on the internet as an outsource worker. As a way to cut back on costs, many major companies are outsourcing their work to people outside of the company. This allows them to save money on full-time benefits, pay a smaller wage and still get the work done. For you or others like you, it’s the opportunity to work from home on the internet and earn a salary without the added expense of gas, daycare, lunches and the many other expenses that go with having a job outside your home.

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While Total Quality Management has proven to be an effective process for improving organizational functioning, its value can only be assured through a comprehensive and well­thought­out implementation process. The purpose of this chapter is to outline key aspects of implementation of large­scale organizational change which may enable a practitioner to more thoughtfully and successfully implement TQM. First, the context will be set. TQM is, in fact, a large­scale systems change, and guiding principles and considerations regarding this scale of change will be presented. Without attention to contextual factors, well­intended changes may not be adequately designed. As another aspect of context, the expectations and perceptions of employees (workers and managers) will be assessed, so that the implementation plan can address them. Specifically, sources of resistance to change and ways of dealing with them will be discussed. This is important to allow a change agent to anticipate resistances and design for them, so that the process does not bog down or stall. Next, a model of implementation will be presented, including a discussion of key principles. Visionary leadership will be offered as an overriding perspective for someone instituting TQM. In recent years the literature on change management and leadership has grown steadily, and applications based on research findings will be more likely to succeed. Use of tested principles will also enable the change agent to avoid reinventing the proverbial wheel. Implementation principles will be followed by a review of steps in managing the transition to the new system and ways of helping institutionalize the process as part of the organization’s culture. This section, too, will be informed by current writing in transition management and institutionalization of change.

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As a teen entrepreneur coach, I work with young entrepreneurs who are often bootstrapping when they start out. They are searching for simple ways to build a presence online to compliment whatever they are doing in the offline space. Even though they are often technologically savvy, when starting a business, marketing a business online can be information overload. So these are the simple steps I share with them so that they can get started. And they can use supplementary resources, advanced programs and tools and fee based 3rd party applications to build on this foundation as they acquire more knowledge, visibility and money.

1. Name It and Claim It. When you decide to build an online presence pick a topic that centers on a theme and try to make sure everything you set up from your social networking sites to your blog, somehow ties back to that theme. It helps to build greater brand awareness. The more niche or specialized the theme, the easier it will be for your target customer and the media to find you vs. you trying to find them. Express your unique voice as it will make you more memorable i.e. Relationship Marketing Expert, Mari Smith, always wears turquoise in her videos, online avatars and at conferences so she can be easily recognized….not to mention she is a 6′ blonde =) When creating a name for your blog or user name, try to think of an all encompassing term that someone might use to search for your site or blog.

2. Choose Your Platform. Think about the behaviors of your customers or do a survey (www.surveymonkey.com) to find out what online tools they are using. The places where your customer are spending their time are the places you need to be active. You don’t need to register for a lot of sites or the latest and the greatest. Register for one or two sites.

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If your business is going to be owned by more than one owner, the simplest business form to create and operate is a general partnership. Forming a partnership entails an agreement between two or more prospective partners. Whomever you choose to be a partner in any given business venture lies solely in what skills, attributes, or responsibilities this person will be contributing. A partner can be an individual, a partnership, a limited liability company, a corporation, or a trust.

What is a partnership?

The flexibility of a partnership allows the business to operate in a manner that best suits the business needs at the time the business starts and later when the business has matured. Later, when the business has grown, new partners can be added, yet their management capacity can be limited to prevent the new partners from usurping the original partners. When a partner contributes capital to a partnership, the partner receives an ownership percentage in all assets of the partnership, not just in the property contributed.

All partners are jointly liable for the obligations of the partnership. Joint liability means that each individual partner will equally be held responsible for all of the obligations of the partnership. If there is an instance in which any one partner solely contributes to any betterment of the business, that business partner can collect the other partners’ pro rata share of the debt regardless of whether or not the other partners are financially able to repay their share. If this is the case legal action may be required.

There are basically two types of partnerships:

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