Building Bridges Newsletter
Supporting businesses by lending good money to good businesses!
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Sunny skies of May have brightened everyone's business activities and things are again on an upward spiral for most all things financial! Please remember Mother's Day on May 10th and hug your mom, or phone her to let her know how much you appreciate her. She is the reason you are here! Also, remember our military on Memorial Day, May 25th -- those brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoy today. Thank you for your continued subscription to our newsletter, and welcome to our new clients and subscribers! If you enjoy this issue of our Building Bridges newsletter, please forward it to others. Happy May! Lisa Hultz |
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This Month in History
In 1930, researchers for the DuPont Company studied chains of molecules called polymers in an attempt to find a substitute for silk. Pulling a heated rod from a beaker containing carbon- and alcohol-based molecules, they found the mixture stretched and, at room temperature, had a silky texture. This work culminated in the production of nylon marking the beginning of a new era in synthetic fibers.
Nylon was first used for fishing line, surgical sutures and toothbrush bristles. DuPont touted its new fiber as being "as strong as steel, as fine as a spider's web," and first announced and demonstrated nylon and nylon stockings to the American public at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
DuPont built the first full-scale nylon stockings plant in Seaford, Delaware, and began commercial production in late 1939. The company decided not to register nylon as a trademark but to allow the word "nylon" to enter the American vocabulary as a synonym for stockings, and from the time it went on sale to the general public in May 1940, nylon hosiery was a huge success -- women lined up at stores across the country to obtain the precious goods." The first year on the market, DuPont sold 64 million pairs of stockings. That same year, nylon appeared in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, where it was used to create the tornado that carried Dorothy to the Emerald City.
In 1942, nylon went to war in the form of parachutes and tents. Nylon stockings were the favorite gift of American soldiers to impress British women. Nylon stockings were scarce in America until the end of World War II, but then returned with a vengeance. Shoppers crowded stores, and one San Francisco store was forced to halt stocking sales when it was mobbed by 10,000 anxious shoppers. Today, nylon is still used in all types of apparel and is the second most used synthetic fiber in the United States. (Source: Mary Bellis, Inventors Expert)
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Did You Know?
Most new businesses fail. That means most entrepreneurs and CEOs fail right along with them. What makes one person pack up his desk and go home while another shakes it off and tries again?
"It's all in the mindset," says Megan McArdle (author of The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well is the Key to Success). "People with a fixed mindset believe failure is a referendum on them. They think they're not good enough and maybe they should just go mop floors somewhere. Those who have a growth mindset, however, think failure is a road map for what not to do next time."
Most businesses fail, even with good venture capital backing. But successful entrepreneurs have several similar inherent qualities: "They have some measure of overconfidence," she says. "To be successful, you have to have a certain amount of blindness to the risk." Successful entrepreneurs have some measure of overconfidence. Optimistic bias is another common trait, as successful entrepreneurs tend to look on the bright side. They look at failure and find the valuable lesson, bringing it to the next thing. (Source Stephanie Vozza, FastCompany.com)
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The Great College Debate
 With high school graduation just around the corner, students and parents are concentrating on choosing the "right" college for optimizing higher education goals. But, is a college education right for every student? Many experts are saying, "No" and backing it up with factual evidence. While millions of college graduates prepare to join the workforce, they face an economy with high unemployment rates, increasing competition for jobs and mounting debt from college expenses. Compare that to currently working employees who didn't attend college but have spent the past four years making money and honing their workplace skills while amassing little to no debt. According to the U.S. Dept. of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, the minimum cost for obtaining a bachelor's degree in 2010 was $50,000. Average debt for student loans is about $25,000, and debts of $100,000 are not unheard of. Assuming a high school graduate has no degree but is willing to do some advanced training (i.e. technical school), wages could be around $30,000 a year as a beginner. That means that over four years, they would earn about $120,000 while their counterpart who is in college earns little or nothing, and may even carry the same amount in debt by graduation. Many very successful entrepreneurs choosing to start their own businesses are not college-educated. For some billionaires, especially those who saw their fortunes grow at very young ages, college probably seemed like a waste of time. A report released by market research firm Approved Index has revealed that just under a third of the world's billionaires do not have college degrees. |
May Business Book Pick

Profit First: A Simple System to Transform Any Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine by Mike Michalowicz. Hardcover, 191 pages; published by Obsidian Press, July 4, 2014; ISBN-10: 0981808298, ISBN-13: 978-0981808291.
What if, rather than you serving your business, your business served you? What if you could turn a profit from your very next deposit? And what if you had the power to guarantee that profitability?
In his follow-up to the cult classic, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, and the game-changing book, The Pumpkin Plan, author and entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz details the cash management system that will ensure any business -- of any size, in any industry, no matter how much debt it carries or how many years it has been operating -- will become permanently profitable.
In his signature frank and compassionate tone, Michalowicz reveals why the traditional accounting formula of Sales - Expenses = Profit is not just counterintuitive to human behavior, but a myth that locks you into a never-ending cycle of selling more yet profiting less.
In Profit First, Michalowicz explains how this age-old accounting formula turns great businesses into cash-eating monsters, trapping you in a day-to-day, check-to-check struggle to survive. He reveals how to flip that "Frankenstein Formula" and take profit first without compromising your business and why the Profit First Formula of Sales - Profit = Expenses actually forces innovation, supports sustained growth and skyrockets profits. You are about to discover the step-by-step Profit First system that shows you how to radically change the financial health of your business -- from your very next deposit.
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Thoughtful Thoughts

In the end, all business opera- tions can be reduced to three words: people, product and profits. Unless you've got a good team, you can't do much with the other two.
-- Lee Iacocca
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May Humor
 A little boy wanted $100 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. Then, he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100. When the post office received the letter addressed to "God, USA," they decided to send it to the president. The president was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill. He thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy. The little boy was delighted with the $5 bill and sat down to write a thank-you note to God which read, "Dear God: Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington D.C. and they took $95 in taxes."
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May 5: Cinco de Mayo; May 10: Mother's Day; May 16: Armed Forces Day; May 25: Memorial Day. Mazon's offices will be closed Monday, May 25th in observance of Memorial Day.

FAQ: How long must I be in business to become a Mazon client?
Mazon Associates special- izes in helping growing businesses as well as start- up companies with accounts receivable financing. We do not require that you be in business for any specific length of time to participate in our factoring services.
If you would like to find out more about our services for your business and/or apply for an account with Mazon Associates, please phone us at 972-554-6967 (toll-free 800-442-2740 or visit our website at
$$$ Refer And Earn $$$
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Business contacts, friends, family and acquaintances -- you just never know when someone you know might need Mazon's accounts receivable factoring services! Visit our referral page for more information.
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About Our Clients
Our clients are traditionally businesses that are manufac- turers, distributors and service companies in the following areas: advertising / marketing / apparel / design / courier & delivery services / equipment repair & maintenance / environmental services / graphic design / signage & printing / staffing & employment services / security services / catering & food services / legal services / light construction / telecommunications / transportation services. Our clients may include start-up, early-stage growth and high-growth businesses; under-capitalized businesses with historical operating losses; businesses with cash flow problems having a cash flow need; businesses with tax liens or turnaround situations; businesses who may not currently meet a bank's credit criteria. Our clients have delivered services or products to other businesses and have business-to-business invoices that can be independently verified. Most of our clients have come to us through referrals from current and former clients. We rely heavily on word-of- mouth marketing to bring in new clients -- and we offer a lucrative referral program. Our clients are located in any of the 50 states in the U.S.A. Our clients are not companies with a majority of consumer receivables such as retail businesses, progress billings, third party pay medical receivables and certain construction-related businesses.
For more information about becoming a client, please contact us by telephone 972-554-6967 or toll-free 1-800-442-2740, or visit our website:
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