Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Richard Branson Talks about Entrepreneurship


At the office, we love Richard Branson! In his most recent post, he talks about why entrepreneurship is so important. 

"I have never had a truly professional job. I've never been on the other side of the interview process, and I've (thankfully!) never had a boss. From a very young age - long before I knew what the word meant - I was an entrepreneur.

My introduction to the working world came from my mother, who was always using her limitless imagination to come up with new business ideas. She managed the whole process herself, from developing the ideas, to crafting the products, to making deals with distributors and selling goods herself. One of her more successful ventures was building and selling wooden tissue boxes and wastepaper bins in national stores.

She was resolute, and taught me if an item didn't sell, you try something else. I was always helping around the house and picked up a lot of useful tips without ever realising it at the time. I made plenty of mistakes and was able to learn from them rather than spend time fretting over every little error. There was never enough time for that, it was always on to the next adventure.

When I was 11, I decided it was time to start my own small business. With my best friend Nik Powell as my partner, we set about breeding budgerigars. We saw a gap in the market to sell budgies as they were very popular with kids in school at the time. However, they kept multiplying quicker than we could sell them, and the school holidays were coming to an end...

We went back off to boarding school and left my parents to look after all the birds. We lived in the countryside, and I think the rats got to some of them. As for the rest? My mum opened the cages and set them free! Next I tried selling Christmas trees, buying lots of small ones and hoping to make a fortune when they grew. Sadly, the rabbits ate those!

While we were discussing this we were also making a documentary about my passion for animal conservation. I guess the budgerigars weren't a good start! But perhaps they ignited my passion for animals, which has stayed with me all of my life. Now we breed endangered lemurs on Necker Island, and Virgin Unite support animal conservation schemes from sharks to rhinos, rays to elephants.

Despite the setbacks with budgies and Christmas trees, my appetite for the life of an entrepreneur wasn't sated. Thankfully our next venture — Student Magazine — went a lot better, and from that sprang Virgin Records. Forty years on, the Virgin Group has more than 100 companies and approximately 60,000 employees in over 50 countries. But if it wasn't for those first few failures, the future successes would never have happened.

One thing to remember is to be flexible. I was whatever was necessary when I wrote to people. Editor to some. Circulation manager to others. Advertising manager to others!

What setbacks did you encounter in your first job? And, more importantly, what did you learn from them?"

*Courtesy of LinkedIn.com

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Fannie Mae takes initiative during the government shutdown


As we all know, the government shutdown is going to be a massive pain in our side. Many people will be furloughed with no pay (and with no way to tell when they can return to work), and all things government-run will be closed to the public. I think it’s safe to say that no one is excited about the government’s choice.

However, those who are in the process of applying for a mortgage will face an even bigger obstacle than the average American citizen. Under Fannie Mae guidelines, before a lender can approve a housing loan, social security information, tax transcripts, and employment must be all be verified … through the government.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be too big of a deal. The process alone should take no more than a few days. However, government shutdowns don’t usually come with time limits, which means that these borrowers could be waiting months to get a new housing loan.

As if that isn’t enough, the Federal Housing Administration is taking a hit! Under the shutdown, only 337 staff members are working out of the 8,709 total staff. This means that the U.S could see a decline in home sales during an extended shutdown period.  

Luckily, Fannie Mae has recognized that, even with a shutdown, the show must go on. To accommodate these borrowers, the federal lender has reevaluated these rules and come up with temporary measures that will make borrowing a loan easier.

According to the Fannie Mae website, lenders can now close alone without verifying social security and IRS tax information. Fannie Mae asks that lenders approve all of this information before a loan is delivered. The new policy also states that credit bureau reporting has been suspended.

If Fannie Mae hasn’t been nice enough, the government-funded lender is giving government workers a break, as well. Under the new guidelines, those who cannot afford to pay their mortgage because of being out of work under the shutdown will have their late fees waived.

Yes, the government shutdown is going to affect Americans for as long as Republicans and Democrats decide they can’t get along. However, it’s nice to know that Fannie Mae is trying to come up with ways to keep the housing market rolling!

To learn more about how the shutdown is affecting mortgage loans, visit www.fanniemae.com to read Fannie Mae’s Lender Letter LL-2013-08 (October 1, 2013). The National Servicing Organization can be reached at 888-326-6435.

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