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While there are benefits to having a landline, there’s also a hefty cost. However, you probably don’t want to give your cell phone number out to everyone. Luckily, there are several quality solutions that won’t require you to get a landline and won’t flood your personal phone with business calls. And the best part is that you get to use equipment you already own.

1. eVoice

How It Works:

eVoice is a phone system based in the cloud. Pick a toll-free or local phone number and set up a menu of options, just like every business you’ve ever called. That menu routes calls to whatever number you want, but callers only see the business number you selected. The system is online 24/7, so callers will always be able to reach you and hear your menu message. This is a great solution because the menu is extremely professional and gives you the option to send calls to your cell phone, your co-workers, or your voicemail. You can run your entire business from wherever you are, without needing a landline tied to a home base.

What You Pay:

After a 30-day free trial, you can pick from four different plans, starting at $12.99 a month. Each option offers a range of extensions and minutes, allowing you to choose what works best for you. It’s also possible to change your plan at any time. This means you can just bump up your plan if you suddenly find yourself in need of more minutes or want to add another co-worker’s phone extension.

2. Grasshopper

How It Works:

Grasshopper is an online phone system which makes your business look more professional. Pick a toll-free or local number, or even a vanity number with a customized word, like 1-800-FLOWERS.

You customize your greeting and menu, and set extensions for everyone in your business so that calls can be forwarded to specific numbers. All of your voicemails will be transcribed and emailed to you, so you can easily check in without having to listen to a message. Grasshopper also gives you the option of accepting texts on your business line, and offers a great user-friendly app.

What You Pay:

Grasshopper offers three plans depending on the size of your business, starting at $26 a month. All of the plans come with unlimited minutes, and vary according to how many extensions you need. There’s a 30-day money back guarantee, so there’s no risk in giving it a try. You can upgrade your plan at any time, allowing your phone service to grow with your business.

3. Smartline

How It Works:

Smartline is a new service from GoDaddy that gives you a dedicated business line and voicemail on your existing cell phone. Phone calls for your business show up on caller ID as “via Smartline,” so you can choose to answer them or send them to voicemail. You can use your cell phone to make business calls and know that your personal number is protected. That’s because outgoing calls through the app show up as your business number. You can also send and receive texts with your business phone number. As an added bonus, you can set business hours for your number, so you can keep your work life separate from your personal life.

What You Pay:

Smartline will give you a business phone, but you don’t actually need anything other than the free app. You can try a plan free for a month, then pick the one that best suits you. The basic plan offers 100 minutes and 100 texts for $3.99 a month. The unlimited plan offers unlimited everything for $9.99 a month. Both plans include a local number for your business, a voicemail box, transcribed voicemails, and more.

4. FreedomVoice

How it Works:

The main idea of this service hinges on the ‘CloudNumber,’ a professional local or 1-800 number which is managed via a smartphone (not through a fancy or expensive piece of equipment). You get to stay in control of your number and everything it offers your customers, including your personalized greeting. You can sign any of your employees up to the system, giving them their own extension. That’s all it takes for them to be reached through the number – it doesn’t matter if they’re in Bali, or Bermuda, or Baltimore. You can also check voicemails and faxes from anywhere, thanks to the free mobile app.

What you Pay:

You can try the service for free for 30 days. If you don’t like it, you can cancel. However, you’re probably going to like it. That’s because it offers great plans for great prices – from $9.95 a month for a number with 400 minutes, to the Max plan which offers unlimited minutes for $29.95 a month. Those caught somewhere in the middle can choose the Edge plan for $19.95 a month.

The post 4 Low-Cost Alternatives To Having A Business Landline appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Running a business comes with tons of perks – flexibility, personal fulfillment, and the freedom that comes with being your own boss. However, it’s also a lot of work. There are demands from clients, the never-ending pursuit of new customers, and the stress of always trying to stay on top of the competition. Luckily, these tools and tactics can lessen the headache and help your business reach its full potential.

1. Lead Generation.

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If you’ve got a website or blog that you’re looking to collect email subscribers for, then you should be using Leadpages. It can supercharge your email subscriber efforts.

With Leadpages you can do a number of things to acheieve this, such as setting up landing pages (dozens of templates to choose from) for a product, contest, subscription service — whatever you want. Easily test what’s performing well, and what’s not. Simple, right? Well, that’s the point. No coding skills required, and tons of time and money saved by not needing to hire a developer or designer to set everything up.

It’s the kind of service that every website owner can utilize, and it can be a hugely valuable tool added to your arsenal.

Get a 14-day free trial here.

2. Reach your customers through email.

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Email marketing companies provide you with a way to reach out and stay in touch with existing customers, or visitors who have expressed interest in what you have to offer. However, designing and writing email newsletters, timing your sends, and tracking your results can be a hassle. That’s why you’ll want a good, reliable company to do all the work for you.

You can’t go wrong with Constant Contact, as it’s one of the biggest email marketing services in the world. Its easy-to-use email editor allows you to pick a template and customize it any way you want, and you can rest assured that each template will look great on small screens, big screens, and everything in between. You’ll get real-time reports on who is clicking, sharing, and reading your emails. It also transforms your emails into
eye-catching social media posts in just a few clicks.

For a 60-day free trial, click here.

AWeber is another great choice which offers business owners email automation and templates. It has low, easy-to-understand pricing with no strings attached. If you have 500 or less email subscribers, you pay just $19 per month for AWeber to take care of everything for you. More than 100,000 email marketers already trust this service, so they must be doing something right.

Give it a try, completely free for 30 days, by clicking here.

Both Constant Contact and AWeber offer great templates with drag-and-drop editors, as well as features including the tracking of opens, clicks, and visits to your site. However, if you’re looking for something more personalized with automation and integrations, you should opt for drip. The service is great at intelligent email and social media tactics which adapt to your customers’ interests and behaviors.

Interested? You can try drip free with no obligation.

3. Advertise, advertise, advertise.

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You can have the best business in the entire world, but that doesn’t mean anything if you aren’t getting customers. Online advertising is a great way to get the word out  – and no, not through Google Adwords.

Bing Ads is one of the best ways to spread the message about your business, for several reasons. First of all, about 23% of all online searches happen on Bing. That equates to around 15 billion searches. Secondly, Bing is getting more popular each day. And perhaps the best reason to go for Bing over Google is that advertising is generally cheaper – often up to 40% cheaper.

Bing Ads is currently offering $100 worth of advertising credit to anyone who spends $25, so give it a try today.

Another overlooked advertising platform is Yelp. If you have a local business, this is surely not a place you want to miss. According to a 2013 study by Boston Consulting Group (as cited on Yelp’s website), the average annual revenue reported by Yelp advertisers is $23,000. That’s a pretty substantial number, which means that choosing not to advertise on Yelp would be a fool’s errand.

We’ve got you $300 in free Yelp ad credits to get started, so why not give it a go?

4. Who needs landlines?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Your clients need to be able to get in touch with you, but traditional landlines are a thing of the past for many business owners. This is because a much better deal can usually be had by using an internet-based service like eVoice – a cloud-based phone system which includes a free local or toll-free number, call routing, voicemail, and conferencing. One of the coolest features is that customers can call a single number and be seamlessly directed to employees who can take the call on their mobile phones (without the customer even knowing the transfer is happening). It also offers a number of other neat features, like converting a caller’s voicemail into emailed audio files or text messages.

You can try it for free for 60 days by clicking here.

Grasshopper offers a similar service, also making it easy to run a business from your cell phone. This service knows how to cater to today’s entrepreneur, making it extremely easy to start and grow a business from anywhere – even your home. Just like eVoice, it allows you to get a toll-free or local number, add extensions for departments and employees, and direct calls to the appropriate place – no matter where your employees are actually located. They can be taking business calls from the beach or the bathtub. That’s the beauty of it. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs are already using the service.

The greatest part is that you don’t have to sign a long-term contract, so you can try it out with no strings attached.

5. A logo that impresses.

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They say first impressions are everything, and your logo is often the first impression that your customers see. That’s why it needs to be awesome. However, you don’t need to waste time hiring designers you’re unsure about. Instead, you can be part of the process and only pay for a logo if you’re completely satisfied.

Logojoy operates on the belief that great ideas need great design. That’s why it’s committed to helping you create a logo that you’ll be proud of – one that can feature on your website, on promotional goods, or anywhere else you want it to go. All you have to do is bring a loose idea to Logojoy, and let the service’s artificial intelligence do the rest. Your logo is guaranteed to be 100% unique, and will come with a social media kit which includes 40+ perfectly sized versions of your image for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Etsy. This website happens to be the most popular logo maker in the world, and for good reason.

You can also head over to LogoGarden to make your own logo. Yes, you read that right. Make your own. Don’t worry if you don’t have much artistic ability; the website makes it incredibly easy. You simply pick from thousands of icons by industry, and select one to edit. From there, use the logo creator’s design tools, fonts, colors, and editing features. Tweak the logo as much as you want. When you’re satisfied, save it and download it. Congratulations, you just made a logo.

You can get 10% off your order by clicking on this link and using the promo code WallSt10.

6. A design that dazzles.

Tranmautritam from Pexels

Having a great website isn’t just about having a functioning website. It also needs to be aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Luckily, there are some great options which allow you to have a gorgeous site for an extremely reasonable price.

99designs is home to a wide community of professional designers. The process is simple – create a detailed brief, letting designers know exactly what you’re looking for. From there, you can view designers’ portfolios and hire one directly, or start a contest. Launching a contest lets interested freelancers submit their ideas, allowing you to pick your favorite design. This site is a great way to hire a true professional who has been vetted for quality.

DesignCrowd is another great site, offering a network of more than 617,000 designers. You can use its website for any creative project, from logo design to t-shirt design. It also allows you to create a contest, with the typical project receiving more than 100 design submissions from around the world. You can choose the best design, correspond with the freelancer to tweak it as you wish, and receive all the necessary copyright ownership. If you don’t like any of the designs (which is highly unlikely), DesignCrowd will refund your money. This means there’s no reason not to give it a go.

7. A host that delivers.

bsdrouin on Pixabay

Security. Scalability. Load time. Uptime. These things matter. This is why you need to find a web host that will work hard to keep your site up and running. There are a lot of choices out there, but not all of them are quality choices. Luckily, we’ve done the hard work and identified three of the best options.

If you have a WordPress site, look no further than WP Engine. It’s dedicated solely to WordPress, so it knows how to support those websites. Unlike many web hosts, it’s available to support customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. That alone can be a godsend when you’re pulling your hair out and are ready to throw your computer out the window (don’t worry, it happens to everyone from time to time). Choose from a variety of plans, from Startup to Growth and Scale. Have a look and the WP Engine website to determine which plan is best for you.

Just be sure to click here first, to receive 33% off your first payment.

HostGator is another great hosting platform, also offering customers support every day of the year, 24 hours a day. Those who opt for this host will also benefit from a 99.9% uptime promise. There are three hosting plans, starting at just $2.75 per month. You’ll get unmetered storage and bandwidth, along with unlimited email addresses, even if you pick the cheapest plan. Not bad at all, right? More than 9 million websites already trust HostGator.

Give them a try – you have nothing to lose, thanks to the company’s 45-day money-back guarantee.

Blue Host is owned by the same company as HostGator, and gives you a free domain, site builders, and 24/7 support. It’s another great option for anyone planning to use WordPress, as the company employs a team of WordPress experts who are on hand to offer assistance when you need it. The process is super easy, allowing you to have your WordPress platform up and running in just a few minutes. From there, you can manage all your installations in one place. The company is currently running a special promotion which allows you to pay just $3.95 a month.

Try Blue Host for free, using its 30-day money back guarantee.

8. A website that’s easy to build.

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Gone are the days when business owners had to hire expensive developers to build their websites. You can do it all on your own now, even if you don’t have any experience in the field.

Weebly offers a selection of free templates which can be fully customized to fit your needs. From basic business sites to online stores and portfolios, you’re bound to find a template that works. Every single template is ready to launch immediately, so you can get a professional looking website in the blink of an eye. Weebly is also a great service if you’re looking to create a blog to connect with your customers. Don’t worry if you lack experience – there’s no coding required and you’ll get step-by-step guidance throughout the entire process. A major perk is that you can manage or edit your site from any device. Weebly’s $8 a month ad-free plan will allow you to look like a bona fide professional in no time. They’ll also give you a free domain and $100 in free Google ad credits.

You can also opt to go with Blue Host for just $3.95 a month, which also gets you a free domain and the use of the company’s site builders.

9. Video Marketing.

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Create powerful, professional marketing videos with Animoto’s incredibly simple video editor.

Animoto’s the fast and easy way to make videos that’ll grow your business. Create videos in minutes with their online video editor, so you can increase sales with video ads and promotions, create marketing videos for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and improve brand awareness with powerful professional videos. No video editing experience required.

10. A keeper of passwords.

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If you’ve ever found yourself staring blankly at a sign-in screen because you forgot your password, you’re not alone. It’s no wonder that people forget them so easily, with every website requiring something different – uppercase letters, lowercase letters, special characters, numbers.

With Dashlane, you’ll never have to struggle again. That’s because it only requires you to remember one “master password,” which you simply enter each day. Dashlane takes it from there, remembering all your other passwords and signing into your various accounts with them. The best part is that you’re kept incredibly secure throughout the process, as even Dashlane doesn’t know or store your master password.

11. An online store that’s good looking & functional.

Shopify Partners on Burst

Just like brick and mortar shops, online stores need to be well organized and attractive to bring in customers. They need to look professional. They need to be easy to use. All of that is easily done with Shopify, a commerce platform that allows anyone to sell things online.

You can choose from hundreds of graphic themes offered by sector. This means that whether you sell vintage clothing or brand new jewelry, you’re bound to find something that’s a perfect fit.

But it’s not just about having a nice looking store. It’s also about having the technology that makes it possible for customers to buy your products online. This means having a payment system that can accept credit cards, and a dashboard where you can view sales and order details. Shopify offers all of that.

You can get a basic plan for $29 a month, or pay just $9 a month if you only want to sell on Facebook, accept credit card payments, and use ‘Buy’ buttons.

Sign up for a free 14-day trial and see why more than 600,000 companies around the world choose Shopify as their online selling platform.

12. An easy payment system.

Sarah Pflug on Burst

No matter what kind of business you run, you need to have a way to accept credit cards. After all, how many people do you know that still carry around cash? Your grandfather might, but you’ll probably be hard-pressed to find anyone else who does.

Square makes it incredibly easy to take debit and credit card payments, no matter where you are. All you have to do is sign up and receive your free magstripe reader, allowing you to swipe credit cards anywhere. You can also order a Square reader for contactless and chip cards, starting at just $49. Square takes just 2.75% of each swipe, dip, or tap. This tool is a great way to ensure you’ll never miss a sale from a person who isn’t carrying cash. Square also offers an app which helps you track sales.

13. Invoices that are organized for you.

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Accounting and numbers can be a real drag when all you really want to do is enjoy the more exciting side of running your own business. While there are a lot of ways to take care of your business’ accounting needs, FreshBooks is a fabulous choice. It’s a cloud-based secure accounting program which is accessible from wherever you are. It’s easy to use, and organizes all of those boring numbers into great-looking invoices. Just think of all the things you could be doing with your time if you weren’t pouring over invoices, tracking expenses, and following up on payments.

Click here to get a free 60-day trial of FreshBooks.

14. Legal experts to answer questions & make paperwork a breeze.

Unsplash/Olu Eletu

At some point, you’re going to need legal advice. Maybe you’re just starting out and have questions about business formation and trademarks, or maybe you have forms that need to be completed and submitted. LegalZoom is a great resource which can help you make sense of it all.

If you have a question, LegalZoom has an answer. It provides personalized, affordable legal services for less than a traditional lawyer. It’s been around for more than 12 years, and has helped over a million small businesses. If you have ongoing legal needs, consider signing up for a plan that will provide you with legal advice from a real-life lawyer for as little as $31.25 a month.

15. Make signing a snap.

Pixabay

Signatures are usually needed to seal any business deal, but you aren’t always located in the same place as your customers. That’s okay. Docusign makes it easy to sign documents electronically, no matter where you happen to be. You can send out relevant documents via email, and the recipients can sign them with just a couple of taps on their phone or tablet. You won’t have to spend loads of money overnighting important papers ever again. The system is perfectly secure and encrypted, and a complete audit trail is maintained.

Click here for a free 30-day trial.

16. A business loan with a great rate.

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It’s not always necessary for business owners to take out a loan, but those who do need to borrow a little cash should make sure they do it in the smartest way possible. Comparing interest rates is absolutely key when it comes to choosing a lender. After all, you want to make money…not spend it all on high monthly payments.

Zaprates is a loan comparison site that can help you find the perfect business loan. Simply visit the Zaprates website, enter a few details, and get quotes in minutes. Once you apply for a loan, you’ll find out within 24 hours whether you’ve been approved. You don’t have to have perfect credit or a credit history, and little to no collateral is required. You’ll be given all the information up front so you can make an informed decision that will help your business become what you want it to be.

Click here to get free quotes.

17. Don’t just fax … eFax.

freepik

In the age of online digital storage, the need for hard documents is becoming increasingly less common. However, that doesn’t mean they’re obsolete. If you’re required to fax over a document, there’s no need to hunt down an old-fashioned fax machine. Just use eFax, which allows you to send faxes over the internet using your phone, tablet, or computer. It goes straight to the recipient’s fax machine. And when someone with an old-school machine sends you a document, eFax delivers it to you via email. From there, you can review, sign, and send it back – no printing or scanning required.

Click here to get a free 14-day trial.

The post 17 Everyday Business Essentials That Will Save You Time & Money appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Freshbooks

FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting software that is custom-built for freelancers and small business owners. Instead of breaking the bank to hire your own accountant or struggling to do the finances on your own, read on to see how FreshBooks is the perfect solution for you.

1. Keep everything in one place.

Instead of creating invoices in Excel or Word, and doing financial accounts work in QuickBooks, FreshBooks is your one-stop shop. You can make invoices, track expenses, keep track of the time and budget spent on each project, accept payments online, and more.

2. Literally one place, since it’s cloud-based.

This software lives in the cloud, which means you can start something on your work computer, then pick up from where you left off via the app on your phone. It works with all platforms: PC, Apple, and Android.

3. Quick and easy money management.

FreshBooks has everything set up for you to choose from, including invoice templates you can design to look professional. Instead of having to struggle to learn a new software or accounting method, it’s an intuitive program that just needs a little input from you to create exactly what you need.

4. No more paper receipts.

Link your business credit card or bank account to FreshBooks to make keeping track of expenses a breeze. You can also take photos of relevant receipts and upload them to the app so they are seamlessly imported into your financial records.

5. Work well with others.

If you work with contractors, or run your own business and want your employees to have access, they can. You can assign anyone access to a specific project’s financial records, or records for the entire business.

6. Tax time won’t be a hassle.

As you input expenses, FreshBooks categorizes them, so you won’t have to do it at tax time. All of your billable hours are already there. All of your income, sales tax, and more. You can hand over the numbers to your tax preparer, or do it on your own with helpful tax tips from the FreshBooks blog.

7. Try it for free, then keep your costs down.

FreshBooks offers a 30 day free trial so you can see if it will be the best fit for you and your business. Once you’re hooked, you start off at $15/month for total control of your freelance or business finances. They also offer a 30 day money back guarantee, so there’s no risk to giving it a shot.

The post 7 Reasons FreshBooks Makes Managing Your Small Business Finances Easier appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

H&R Block

Tax season has arrived once again, but submitting your return doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. H&R Block is here to help, with its online option that allows you to file from the comfort of your own home – for free. Here are seven great reasons to use H&R Block More Zero.

1. Federal and state taxes can be filed.

H&R Block’s free online filing service is a one-stop shop, allowing you to file both federal and state returns. Whether you’re submitting a 1040EZ, a 1040A, or a 1040 with Schedule A (itemized deductions), H&R Block More Zero has you covered.

2. Submit your W-2 using your smartphone.

It couldn’t be easier to submit your W-2. Simply take a photo using your smartphone and upload the information with the W-2 Capture feature. If you used another service to file last year’s taxes, you can also drag and drop a PDF of that return into the system.

3. It lets more people file for free than its competitors do.

H&R Block More Zero allows almost 50 percent more taxpayers to file their returns for free than its largest competitor. For instance, Turbo Tax charges a total of $76.98 to file state and federal returns for those submitting a 1040 with Schedule A. That same service is entirely free when you file online with H&R Block.

Among those who file a 1040 with Schedule A are taxpayers who itemize deductions such as mortgage payments, charitable contributions, and medical expenses. Although not everyone can file for free, approximately six in 10 taxpayers can do so through March 31.

4. There’s a maximum refund guarantee.

As with all of H&R Block’s tax services, the company offers a maximum refund guarantee with its online filing option. This means that if you find another method that results in a bigger refund, you can use the service for free to amend your return. If you paid for the H&R Block More Zero deluxe or premium service, your fee will be refunded in this circumstance, so long as the bigger return isn’t due to differences in data supplied by you.

5. Easy to navigate.

H&R Block More Zero was designed by tax experts, not just tech people. The filing option is easy to understand, and there are checkpoints throughout the entire process. It’s the perfect option for people who generally cringe at the thought of confusing tax forms. You can even do all or part of the process on the user-friendly MyBlock mobile app.

6. There’s no catch, and no coupon required.

They say nothing in life is free, but this truly is – as long as you qualify based on your tax needs. There’s no coupon required. Simply head to H&R Block’s website, click “file free online,” and be well on your way to a stress-free experience.

7. The deluxe and premium services offer even more.

If you’re looking for more bells and whistles, you can opt for the deluxe version of the online filing service. For just $34.99, you’ll get all of the H&R Block More Zero offerings, plus six years’ access to prior returns. You’ll also have access to DeductionPro® to optimize your donations, as well as unlimited tax advice via live chat and support for tax situations including hobby income and unreported tips.

Upgrade to the premium service to get all of that, plus the ability to import expenses from popular apps such as Stride. The $54.99 package also gives support for tax situations including rental property income, stock sales income, and freelance/contractor income with expenses less than $5,000.

If you’ve grown accustomed to drowning in a sea of confusion during tax season, let this year be different. H&R Block More Zero can make filing your return a breeze.

The post 7 Benefits Of Using H&R Block’s Free Online Tax Filing Option More Zero appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image courtesy of The Mensch On A Bench

The Elf on the Shelf might need to scoot over a little bit more this coming holiday season. It’s time to make more room for Mensch on a Bench, the Neal Hoffman creation that gained attention on Shark Tank in 2014, and previously was featured here and here on Wall Street Insanity.

During the 2015 holiday season, it appears that Mensch on a Bench will feature more prominently on store shelves, in some instances as part of an entire Hanukkah section. This season, the Mensch can be found adding cheerfulness to shelves at Barnes & Noble, Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Party City, local Hallmark stores and Michael’s. “Our goal is to be in the Hanukkah section, not to be next to Elf on The Shelf,” Hoffman tells Wall Street Insanity.

“We’re not in all stores,” he explains. “Nor do we want to be … In New York, for example, there’s a big Hanukkah section and we’re a big part of it. In North Dakota, there are no Mensches because there’s no Hanukah section.” That’s when customers can order online, and have Mensches packaged by Hoffman himself. Products are sent to homes everywhere from North Dakota to Hawaii. The company is looking to ship to Europe and Mexico next year.

Building the Mensch brand.

Now that Mensches are in every store Hoffman wanted to see them in, he is explicitly focused on expanding the product’s presence within stores. This year, there’s a Mensch Menorah that sings, teaching children Hanukkah prayers. There’s a plush dreidel, an activity kit in Target, and candy bars in some stores.

Image courtesy of The Mensch On A Bench

As more products are being sold, Hoffman is conscious of moving too fast. “I want to stay with items that are core to Hanukkah and have an educational element to them. We don’t want to go crazy.”

Through his creation of new items, Neal has seen endless opportunities to create. There have been opportunities to market Mensch cups, wine toppers, aprons, etc. However, it appears that Hoffman is focused on staying true to the holiday, and adding fun elements slowly, and with discretion.

All of this is part of Hoffman’s effort to go from “a product to a brand and impact more and more Jewish families. We’re setting down that path and we’ll continue. We’ve also sold the rights to our book to a movie studio out in L.A. We’re now pitching networks to get a cartoon going next year. We have a vision of adding more meaningful Jewish moments to the holiday.”

Mensch goes Hollywood.

As we speak, Hoffman is pitching his product-related TV show to networks. He hopes to broaden the story included in the Mensch on a Bench book, and transform it into something that speaks generally to the value in simply being a good person. The goal is to have it appear on TV screens as early as next holiday season. He says networks seem to love the idea, and recognize a need for it.

In the meantime, Mensch has already found another way to showcase the brand in a fun and unique fashion: through an app. The Elf Yourself app is popular nearly every holiday season, and Hoffman seized on its appeal to bring something relevant to those who celebrate Hanukkah.

Thanks to his “dream big” sensibilities, he was able to forge a partnership with the Office Depot-owned app with just a phone call. “Honestly, I just looked up who created the app for them, and called them up and asked if we could do something similar for our product.” He was faced with sticker shock, but resolved to keep trying. He asked if they could introduce him to Office Depot, and the process began.

Hoffman explains that his call with Office Depot was no different from any of his other pitches. “I always start out saying, please let me go through two seconds of this before you hang up. I’m the Mensch on a Bench guy. Jewish alternative to Elf on a Shelf.” Office Depot liked it, and worked quickly to put together a deal that put the Mensch on a Bench on people’s phones. “They’ve been so wonderful,” Hoffman says. “We went to New York, worked in a studio, had choreographers and dancers, including the choreographer for one of the top hip-hop artists out there, and I was so amazed at the resources put behind my little crazy idea. It’s just a message of perseverance.”

A big small business.

Through the studio visits and Hollywood negotiations, Hoffman still remains humble. “I’m still a small business,” he tells Wall Street Insanity. “I like to say, we play bigger than we are. We’re still a one-man operation.”

This is no exaggeration. In spite of its prominence in stores, online, and potentially on TV screens, Neal still runs his shop at his house. His basement is filled with his products. He has three, five-foot Mensches in his home for his kids to lay on. And he continues to do almost everything on his own, including accounting and PR. He explains that, as a “niche business, we’re going to stay small for now. We’re not going to go out and buy a big office building with a huge staff. That’s how you go bankrupt.”

Neal quit his full-time job to make Mensches full time, and savors the opportunity to be hands-on with his product. His cell phone number is the customer service number, and he talks to every customer who calls. This is what he says he loves about the business. He cites a quote he’s heard, “Entrepreneurship is working 100 hours a week so you don’t have to work 30 hours a week for someone else.” For him, that’s exactly what this is.

The authenticity of his product is something he prides himself on. Hoffman’s goal is to keep the product popular, but never bigger than the holiday. The personal interaction and small-business feel of Mensch on a Bench is what Hoffman believes keeps it popular. “I don’t think it would work as well if a major business did it,” he adds.

“Shark Tank” — because it has to come up.

Neal gets asked a lot about his appearance on the December 2014 holiday edition of Shark Tank. He received investments from Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec. They collectively contributed $150,000 for a fifteen percent stake, which Hoffman promised he would return to them within three years.

Image courtesy of The Mensch On A Bench

Today, Lori and Robert serve in an advisory role. Neal is, self-admittedly, very independent. “I’m going to call you if I have a problem, but I’m not going to be high maintenance,” he explains. “Lori is a great product person, so she’s very involved on the product side. She’s helping with products for next year, which I can’t say too much about. But they’re going to be very mindful of the holiday. Lori inspired the main, big item for next year.” He adds that she’s extremely accessible, talking to him on the phone until midnight as they sort through business ideas and concerns.

Hoffman sustains his relationship with Robert, but speaks with him less. “This week, I had an issue with a retailer not sending the product out to stores,” Hoffman tells Wall Street Insanity. It was what he describes as a $100,000 issue. Robert was able to step in on Hoffman’s behalf to help resolve the matter. Hoffman also does annual reviews with Robert and Lori alike, receiving valuable guidance on pacing and focusing on one product at a time.

He has taken every piece of constructive criticism from the show to heart, having changed the face of the Mensch to look “nicer. The doll was good, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been.” Moving into next year, there’s still more feedback coming from Lori and Robert as they suggest new ideas, and encourage Hoffman to adequately space out the release and implementation of his ideas.

Image courtesy of The Mensch On A Bench

The Mensch moves forward.

Neal is still focused on turning his product into more of a brand. The strides already taken through the app and potential tv show are just the beginning. “Ultimately, my goal is that when you walk into any major retailer, there’s a four-foot Mensch section. It’s got your Menorahs, your dreidels, your candy, your dolls, your wrapping paper. We’re not trying to be a $20 million company. We want to break your $2 million mark, your $3 million mark.” Understandably, the greatest challenge is setting and achieving these goals with only a brief holiday season in which to see results.

Still, everything is “really going according to plan,” Hoffman says excitedly. “Everything’s happening in year two or three, even though I had a five-year plan. So now, it’s how big can we dream?”

With lofty ambitions and Neal’s ability to see every vision he has had come to fruition, it’s likely you’ll be seeing lots more Mensches and related products this holiday season. The Elf on a Shelf finally has some company.

The post Mensch On A Bench Sits On More Shelves This Holiday Season appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image courtesy of Roomi

Most people who move to New York City from another country would probably want to return home after having all of their belongings stolen by a roommate. Not Ajay Yadav, the self-proclaimed “troublemaker-turned doer, people person and dreamer,” who created Roomi and is now its CEO. After coming home to an empty room one day, all of his belongings taken by his missing roommate, Yadav tells Wall Street Insanity that he realized he had experienced “an incredible learning opportunity.”

First, Yadav identified the source of the problem: “The hectic nature of the apartment search in a city with vacancy rates barely at one percent meant that I had sacrificed feeling secure and comfortable at home for the sake of jumping on the first place I could afford.” Then, after realizing that his friends felt similarly uncomfortable about apartment and roommate hunting in New York, he conceptualized Roomi. Roomi, he says, was his effort to focus on “increasing safety, simplifying the search experience and helping users make the most informed decisions.”

Roomi 101.

Roomi is an iOS (and soon to be Android) compatible app that you may not have heard of, unless you live in New York City or San Francisco. But it’s growing fast, with plans to expand to Los Angeles within the next few months. Before you know it, Roomi may be the greatest tool in your own, personal roommate search.

Yadav describes Roomi as a roommate-finding service and apartment hunting app in one, intended to “make the experience simpler, quicker, and less stressful for our customers.” To some users, it may seem most like a dating app with a practical purpose. It’s currently free to use, and builds potential roommate profiles via information from Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Its social media connectivity also enables the app to verify users, a key security measure for the process of connecting complete strangers.

Image courtesy of Roomi

The crucial and unique feature of Roomi is its security process. Although it has an aesthetically appealing and easy-to-use interface, it also seamlessly integrates safeguards that keep you, the user, from jeopardizing your own privacy. For example, properties are listed “via an approximate map location rather than exact street address,” explains Yadav.

Better yet, Roomi enables users to find out more about one another in a safe environment. Not unlike many popular dating apps, Roomi has an in-app chat available so users can get their questions answered while protecting personal contact information. Through this communication, users can decide if they will be “compatible roommates.” Yadav also encourages anyone using the app to report suspicious activity, which his team will investigate immediately. Customer service and user feedback are priorities, Yadav explains. “We’ll address any concerns and continue to improve.”

Roomi gets rolling.

Roomi launched out of beta in New York city in June 2015. It quickly became the number one app in the Apple Store for finding roommates. But it wasn’t an instant success. Although the app fulfills a tremendous need (Yadav explains that people in New York spend, on average, about 40 percent of their income on rent), it still had hurdles to overcome.

From the beginning, Yadav formed a grassroots team that the Roomi founder says had to “hit the pavement.” Ultimately, they “helped us gain 120,000 users in NYC alone.” New York City is “admittedly a tough market for most businesses,” Yadav confesses. That’s why he “read everything [he] could about potential investors and advisors, and pinpointed the ones who could add the most strategic value to Roomi.” From there, he used his own tenacity and persistence to turn “no’s” into “maybes” into “yes’s.” His hard work paid off, literally, as he has since raised over $2 million in funding to further grow the company.

The next-hardest part was finding initial users. The Roomi team took the app from New York to San Francisco to continue to build its base. It launched in San Francisco on October 15th of this year, where it now enjoys a few hundred listings in the city. Yadav expects it to “grow exponentially.” As the app grows, monetizing features will be implemented to add to the experience for users, and create revenue for Roomi.

The trendiness of co-living.

Yadav’s ambitions for his app are, of course, banking on the continued need people will have for roommates. It’s unlikely that co-living will go away. Many millennials have started a sort of “trend,” living with roommates well out of college as they gravitate toward big cities with high rent and tough-to-stretch salaries. They have started to re-think the traditional lifestyle, prioritizing both financial savvy and personal independence.

But this isn’t just a trend that will go away as millennials age, move out of big cities, and occupy the suburbs. “Affordable rent is a global need,” Yadav observes. “And people of all ages are rethinking the traditional housing model. They’re gravitating towards communities. For example, seniors are not the stereotypical roommate demographic, but many … are seeking out roommates as an alternative to assisted living.”

So while Millennials may be the ones feeling the financial “pinch” of big city life, there’s a practical application for the app for essentially anyone. By saving money via a roommate, people of all ages can have more disposable income left for saving or enjoying the city they live in.

For Yadav, his app is all about helping people. He explains that he simply wants to enable people to “live happier in their homes and have more rewarding engagement within their communities.” In other words, his goal is to help people avoid the very experience he had when he first moved to America.

Moving forward, Yadav sees Roomi expanding to cities with a high cost of living, as well as those with more affordable rent. No matter the location, there is always a benefit to reducing rent and finding someone else to share the financial burden. There’s also something to be said for having someone to live with in a new and unfamiliar environment — especially if you’ve gotten to know them and forged a positive relationship beforehand. Roomi facilitates this process.

As the app’s user base expands, be sure to keep an eye out for Roomi in your city. You never know when it will be time to move again. And this time, you won’t have to worry about a roommate who could steal your stuff.

The post The Roommate Search Revisited: Roomi Shakes Up The Co-Living Scene appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Unsplash/Jardon Barnes

What constitutes a startup? Who runs them? What causes most startups to go south? What factors matter the most during development? Some of the ideas we have about these subjects contradict each other. Depending on what founders you’re observing and what experts you’re listening to, the answers can be entirely different. Below are some general trends about the majority of startups that may surprise you. If you run or work at a startup, some of these may even cause you to reconsider your hiring process.

Old folks rule.

Today’s tech and business culture paints a picture of young, bold startup founders fresh out of college. Famous young entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg are fawned over with attention and front-page features. But this focus has more to do with our cultural obsession with getting rich quick while we’re young, and less to do with the reality of today’s startup landscape. Older, more experienced founders are still dominant. It’s common for founders to be in their 30s, 40s, and even older.

What’s even more puzzling is the reported decline in founders under age 30. There are fewer 20-something founders than there have ever been in the past 20 years. This finding reflects the reality of millennials’ financial struggles rather than the false perception of young people regularly striking it rich.

Immigrants rule.

Another demographic you might be surprised to find in the startup world is immigrants. Studies showed one-third of venture-backed companies from 2006-2012 were founded by at least one immigrant. Despite the struggles that often come with immigration (language barriers, poverty, education gaps, double marginalization), many immigrants are taking advantage of opportunities. Pakistani businessman Shahid Khan became one of the richest people in America after founding an auto parts supplier. As co-working spaces and startup incubators pop up around the world, individuals in developing nations are more equipped to build solid foundations for their startups.

Most products tank.

If you’re somewhat knowledgeable about startups, it’s probably no surprise that many startups fail. However, the fact that a whopping 90 percent of new products fail is a brutal reminder of just how difficult it is to succeed in business.

This stat, drawn from The Startup Owner’s Manual by Steve Blank & Bob Dorf, has sparked continuous analysis of successful startups and what sets them apart. Everything from marketing strategies to the number of co-founders has been said to have an impact.

Growth is everything.

What makes a startup a startup? Is a small business the same as a startup? According to Paul Graham, programmer, investor, and co-founder of Viaweb, the only factor that defines a startup is its a potential for rapid growth. Thus a major determinant of a startup’s success is how quickly that growth occurs. One study showed “companies with growth rates greater than 60 percent upon reaching $100 million in revenues — which McKinsey refers to as “supergrowers” — were eight times more likely to reach $1 billion in revenues than those whose growth was less than 20 percent.”

Education doesn’t matter.

You might expect those with the highest level of education to perform best in business. However, there is little evidence of this. One study showed just 37 percent of startup owners had bachelor’s degrees. 28 percent had earned technical or trade school degrees, and 10 percent had only high school diplomas. The percentage with master’s degrees was only 17 percent, showing that formal education doesn’t necessarily determine a founder’s propensity for entrepreneurship.

Friends and family are a risk.

When trying to pinpoint the most common factors in startup failures, one study found a surprising and somewhat depressing trend: co-founding with friends/family can turn ugly. Unless you’ve already collaborated successfully in a professional setting, co-founding with friends/family members is a shot in the dark. You don’t know if you’ll agree on different business decisions — especially the financial ones. Once a serious dispute occurs, you are not only terminating a business relationship, but a personal one as well.

New startups create more jobs.

Of course startups create more jobs, but the surprising piece is that newer startups create far more jobs than older, more established startups. A study found that “on average, one-year-old firms create nearly one million jobs, while ten-year-old firms generate 300,000.” This goes against the common assumption that startups have a greater impact on job creation as they mature.

The post 7 Surprising Stats About Modern Startups appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Indiegogo/Revolution Bioengineering

Have you ever wished that you had the power to control Mother Nature, waving your arms like Mickey Mouse in “Fantasia” and making flowers and mushrooms dance to “The Nutcracker Suite”? Soon you might be able to do just that, minus the arm-waving and the plants actually coming to life and dancing to a ballet.

The Color-Changing Flowers project on Indiegogo is currently attempting to raise funds — $75,000, to be exact — to use biotechnology to create flowers that change color. If the campaign is funded, backers will receive white petunias that can be watered with a dilute ethanol solution, such as leftover beer. The flowers will then turn red within 24 hours and stay red. If you want white flowers again, all you’ll have to do is switch back to regular water and any new blooms will be white.

Image via Indiegogo/Revolution Bioengineering

A flower that changes from white to red at your command, made with the magic of biotechnology,” says the campaign. “Water this petunia with a special solution and it blooms red for up to a week.”

Although this might sound suspiciously like putting a white flower into some water and adding food coloring to make it change colors, the color-changing flower is more permanent than that, and plant molecular biologists Keira Havens and Nikolai Braun have even bigger plans for their petunias.

First, they want to refine the existing plant so it meets USDA guidelines and can be distributed to gardeners in the U.S. Then, if they reach their stretch goals, they want to create a petunia that smells like vanilla, a naturally blue rose and a new creation they call the Petunia Circadia: a flower that changes color all by itself using its natural circadian rhythms.

The team’s goal, they wrote on their Indiegogo page, is to explore “the ever-changing relationship between nature, technology and society.” They hope the color-changing petunia will be “the impetus for a culture-wide conversation about synthetic biology, genetic engineering and biotechnology.”

Together, Havens and Braun created biotech startup Revolution Bioengineering. After working together for four years in a Department of Defense-funded plant synthetic biology laboratory, the duo decided to use their “natural entrepreneurial synergy” to unlock the full potential of synthetic biology. They claim that by manipulating plants for purely aesthetic reasons, they hope to capture people’s imaginations and draw more attention to the way science can change the world.

For those who like a healthy dose of art in their science (and vice versa), the Color-Changing Flowers campaign runs until April 9 on Indiegogo; think of it as your chance to get in on the ground floor of vanilla-scented petunias.

The post These Color-Changing Flowers Can Be Watered With Beer appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Anyone who’s ever suffered from the terrible fate of a half-frozen Hot Pocket or a scorched mouth due to melted cheese knows that microwaves aren’t exactly on the cutting edge of technology. Thus, inventor Mark Rober wants to give you a better microwave: the HEAT MAP Microwave.

In the video above, Rober explains the general premise behind the microwave, which uses an infrared camera to allow humans to actually see the temperature of the food they’re heating up. Instead of just guessing at how much time something needs to be microwaved, now you can see its infrared image turning first yellow, then orange, then red, then white right through the front of your microwave. If you’re not a hoverer, you can use an app that will let you see the heating process on your phone; if your food hasn’t heated all the way through by the time it’s done microwaving, you can even add more cooking time with the app.

Unlike Kickstarter and other crowdfunding projects, however, Rober — who has already patented the HEAT MAP Microwave — isn’t asking for any financial commitment. Instead, he’s asking that interested microwave enthusiasts sign the petition on his site so potential investors will be able to see that there is a legitimate demand for this type of product. So if you enjoy looking at trippy colors while watching food cook, head on over to his site and express your support for thoroughly cooked burritos without frozen centers.

The post New ‘Heat Map’ Microwave Concept Displays Exactly How Hot Your Food Is (Video) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Shutterstock

If you’re ever in an unfamiliar city and need to go to the bathroom, worry no longer — Airpnp is here to find a bathroom for you. Much like George Costanza, Airpnp’s mission is to find you the most magnificent facilities no matter where you are; with the help of the delightfully named new app, you’ll never have to worry about a full bladder again.

Image via Airpnp

Airpnp (which is not affiliated with Airbnb) asks users to enter their location; when they do, they’re shown all the restrooms in the local area. Some are typical public bathrooms that don’t charge a fee, while others are located in businesses or even private homes, and are only available for use if you pay to pee.

The app allows both residences and businesses to rent out their bathrooms; capitalize on that sweet, sweet bathroom income by providing a toilet to those in need. If you’d like to take advantage of Airpnp’s ability to hook up your toilet with needy customers, you can list your own bathroom and decide on the hours it will be open to the public, the fee you’ll charge and what amenities you’ll offer, according to the Huffington Post.

Just remember that by allowing strangers into your home or business, you are also allowing them to rifle through your medicine cabinet, wipe their hands on your towels and place their rear end on your toilet. Toilet-based entrepreneurship has its price!

The post New Bathroom-Finding App Helps You Figure Out Where To Pee appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.