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The European Union and China clinched a deal on Friday limiting the rise in Chinese exports of textiles and clothing to the EU until the end of 2008, reported Reuters. The deal averts the imposition of quotas that could have soured ties.

"The overall settlement offers a fair deal for China while giving respite and much-needed breathing space to textiles industries in Europe and developing countries," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in a statement. The agreement was reached in Shanghai by Mandelson and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai after months of tension over an explosive rise in shipments of cheap exports from China. The rise, which has generated fears for the future of the garment industry and millions of jobs in Europe and the United States, was unleashed by the Jan. 1 abolition of a decades-old global system of quotas. Resorting to terms agreed when China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, the United States has already slapped temporary restrictions on seven garment and textile products, provoking an angry reaction from Beijing. The 25-nation EU had been due to follow suit by early next week, limiting shipments of T-shirts and flax yarn to 7.5% over the previous year had China not taken voluntary steps to curb exports of these products to this level. These so-called "safeguards" would have been effective only until the end of this year, making it likely that the EU would have had to seek their re-application in six months' time. The pact agreed by Mandelson and Bo caps exports on a wider range of products and will remain in effect for a longer period. "The agreement provides for agreed transitional growth rates between now and 2007, followed by a further year during which both sides will work together closely in the hope that trade is conducted without further interference in this sector," Mandelson told a news conference with Bo in Shanghai.

Oriental Culture

Ten categories of clothing and textiles are covered, including T-shirts and flax yarn. The two sides agreed growth rates in the region of 10% a year for three years until 2008, Mandelson's office said. An EU diplomat said China agreed to limits between 8 and 12.5% a year. Different limits are applied by category and in some cases those limits may change each year. The agreement will still need the approval of all members of the 25-nation EU, although diplomats said that even France and Italy, which have taken the toughest line on Chinese imports, were likely to back it. "The alternatives are that Chinese imports keep coming in and disrupting the market, or that we take unilateral action which would give us narrower coverage for a shorter time and a nasty row with the Chinese," an EU official in Brussels told Reuters. Both Bo and Mandelson had talked tough in public before their talks, with the Chinese minister vowing to protect the rights of an industry that employs 19 million people and is a vital cog in China's export-driven economy. However, at the news conference Bo praised the British EU commissioner's "profound understanding" of Oriental culture and presented him symbolically with a gift of a blue-grey Chinese polo shirt. Bo said the agreement would provide a long-term and stable environment for Chinese textiles. "At the same time it also provides a stable import environment for the EU countries," he added. EU imports of T-shirts rose by 157% to more than 150 million in the first quarter of this year, but pullovers and men's trousers leapt even more, by over 400%. Mandelson earlier declined to comment on Chinese shoe exports, which is quickly becoming another sensitive trade topic for European industry. Economists fear the tussle over textiles will be the first of many trade rows if China's exports continue to boom. China on Friday reported a trade surplus for May of USD 8.99 billion, the third-largest on record. Brian Williams, Editor http://www.my-insurance-loans.com

Former WorldCom Chairman Bernard Ebbers, who's facing life in prison for directing the largest securities fraud in U.S. history, cited his charitable works and ill health in a request for leniency at his sentencing next month.

Lawyers for Ebbers told U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in New York yesterday to use her discretion under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year to impose a prison term "substantially below" the life sentence recommended by a court-ordered pre-sentence investigation. Ebbers will be sentenced July 13.

"Ebbers has led an exemplary life in which he has provided for his family, made extraordinary contributions to his community through his good works and other charitable deeds," defense lawyer Reid Weingarten wrote in court papers.

Ebbers, 63, was convicted March 15 of directing an $11 billion accounting fraud at WorldCom, once the second-largest long-distance company, between 2000 and 2002. The company filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history in July 2002, after the fraud was discovered. An appeal will be filed after sentencing if a new trial isn't granted, defense lawyers said.

Ebbers is free on bail.

The former chief executive was convicted March 15 of one count each of conspiracy and securities fraud and seven counts of making false filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while the other eight counts each carry a maximum of 10 years in prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court in January said mandatory sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional and tossed them out. The U.S. Probation Department, in its pre-sentencing report, urged Jones to give Ebbers life in prison, faulting his conduct for a $2.2 billion decline in the value of WorldCom stock.

Defense lawyers asked Jones to impose a lesser sentence because in finding Ebbers guilty, the jury didn't directly link his crimes to investor losses. Ebbers also said he suffers from four heart-related illnesses, including coronary artery disease.

Ebbers said he deserves a prison term that does "not significantly exceed" the one Jones gives to former WorldCom Chief Financial Officer Scott Sullivan when he is sentenced Aug. 4. Sullivan pleaded guilty to fraud and was the government's star witness at the trial of his former boss.

"Mr. Sullivan was WorldCom's CFO and, by many accounts, Mr. Ebbers' co-equal or even superior when it came to WorldCom's finances," Weingarten wrote. "Mr. Sullivan devised every detail of the scheme to defraud WorldCom's shareholders and personally ordered his subordinates to carry out the fraud ? often through intimidation."

Weingarten and defense attorney Brian Heberlig filed letters from 171 people supporting a reduced sentence for Ebbers, including one by his wife, Kristie, who attended most of his two-month trial in Manhattan federal court.

"I plea that you grant Bernie mercy," Kristie Ebbers wrote. "I grieve when I think of his life in prison, but I grieve more at the thought that he might never come home. Please, don't let that be the case."

Ebbers offered letters from four of his daughters, students from a Sunday school class he taught, family friends, former business associates, an ex-colleague on the board of his alma mater, Mississippi College, and a woman employed by a business he runs. Many attested to his generosity and religious faith.

"I have known him to give a million dollars to a local church," Trisha Webber wrote. Weingarten said Ebbers made donations of close to $100 million, many of them anonymously.

Ebbers previously asked Jones for a new trial, citing the government's refusal to grant immunity to three former WorldCom officials he wanted to call as witnesses. Federal prosecutors in New York urged Jones to reject his arguments as a "rehash," according to court papers. Jones hasn't ruled on the request.

WorldCom lost more than $180 billion in market value before its bankruptcy. The company emerged from court protection in April 2004 as MCI.

Copyright ? 2005 The Seattle Times Company http://seattletimes.nwsource.com

 

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A key adviser to institutional investors late Friday gave a thumbs up to Symantec's pending merger with storage specialist Veritas Software.

The favorable recommendation by Institutional Shareholder Services bodes well for security giant Symantec, which has felt the sting of investor wrath since announcing the deal late last year and has seen a third of its market value vanish.

"If an institution's position in a company is so many it barely registers on their screen, they won't want to spend the man-hours to analyze an issue, and go with ISS's recommendation," said Rick Grubaugh, a senior vice president at proxy solicitation firm D.F. King & Co.

When ISS issues a "no" recommendation, or advises clients to withhold votes on the re-election of a director, proxy solicitors say 30 percent to 60 percent of the shares voted often follow that guidance.

Glass Lewis, meanwhile, is generally thought to influence 2 percent to 10 percent of shares voted by institutional investors, proxy solicitors said.

Since last December, when Symantec announced the merger deal with Veritas, the security giant's stock has tumbled by roughly a third, closing at $ 21.28 a share on Friday. John Thompson, Symantec's chief executive, and Gary Bloom, Veritas's chief executive, have defended the deal at various investment conferences and in meetings with institutional investors.

Some investors have raised concerns about how the fast-growing security company would perform if it saddled itself with a slow-growth storage company. Thompson, however, has championed the deal, noting the merger will take advantage of IT customers' ever growing need for storage and a desire to keep that information and data secure from malicious attacks.

Thompson has also pointed to revenue potential of regulatory requirements, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, that require companies to audit who is accessing their information and the need to keep that information safe.

By Dawn Kawamoto Staff Writer, CNET News.com

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Feeling inadequate lately? Here are five mottos to live by when faced with sales failure.

A good attitude is one of the most important traits a sales professional can have. Most people who fail in business fail because they don't know how to keep their attitudes positive on a daily basis. They start their careers learning and practicing the basics, applying these ideas, and end up making lots of money. Then they go into a slump. They?ll stay in their slump until they go back to the fundamentals, until they return to doing what they get paid for--accepting failure and rejection without letting it stop them.

The key to success is in how you handle failure. Handling failure does not come naturally to most people. It?s an acquired skill. Some of your emotions tell you to sulk and avoid any situations in the future that are likely to put you in line to feel the pain of rejection again. Other emotions tell you to get more out of life for yourself and your loved ones. Those are the ones you should listen to: Concentrate on what you have to gain, and learn how to change your attitude toward rejection.

I?m going to present five mottos that have helped me move forward in all areas of my life. Memorize them and recall them when you're rejected or have failed to achieve what you wanted. They?ll help you learn to get past the fear of sales rejection.

1. I never see failure as failure, but only as a learning experience. Every sale that doesn't go through is a learning experience for you; every challenge you have is also a learning experience. So learn from your failures. Thomas Edison, who conducted more than a thousand experiments on filaments before he produced a practical light bulb, was once asked, "How did you keep going after you had failed more than a thousand times?" Edison replied, "I did not fail a thousand times; I learned a thousand ways that didn't work." Like Edison, try to look at failure and rejection in a different light--as a learning experience.

2. I never see failure as failure, but only as the negative feedback I need to change course in my direction. Outside a restaurant with a lively bar, I once saw a gentleman who'd had too much to drink try to unlock his car with the wrong key. No matter how many times he tried, the wrong key still didn't work. After I'd talked him into taking a taxi home, it occurred to me that sometimes we all keep trying to make the wrong key unlock the door, keep using techniques that don't work in our selling endeavors, keep applying the wrong solution to the problem long after we've tried it and failed.

3. I never see failure as failure, but only as the opportunity to develop my sense of humor. Have you ever had a traumatic experience involving a sales presentation? Three weeks later, you finally tell someone about it and suddenly that same event is hilarious. But let me tell you this: The longer you wait to laugh, the more that failure will hold you back. Make a determined effort to laugh sooner by learning the trick of telling a good story on yourself.

4. I never see failure as failure, but only as an opportunity to practice my techniques and perfect my performance. Every time you present your service to others and they don't buy, at least they gave you a chance to practice your presentation and sales skills. Many people don't realize the importance of this. Learn to appreciate the opportunity to become better.

5. I never see failure as failure, but only as the game I must play to win. Selling is a game. Life is a game. Both have their rules. Luck plays a small part, but the winners play ball. Over the years, I've discovered that a single rule dominates every situation: Those who risk failure by working with more people make more money; those who risk less failure earn less.

If you risk failure, sometimes you?ll fail. But every time you fail, you're that much closer to success. Success demands its percentage of failure.

Here?s a philosophy that I teach my students to live by: I am not judged by the number of times I fail but by the number of times I succeed, and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep trying.

Work with this creed and the five attitudes toward rejection I outlined above. What counts isn't how many transactions fall out, how many doors slam, how many things don't work out, how many people go back on their word. What counts is how many times you pick yourself up, shrug and keep on trying to make things come together. There are challenges, obstacles and troubles in every kind of business, but they are all temporary if you take control of your thoughts and develop the right attitude. I believe that winners are winners because they've learned to fuel their success drives by overcoming failure.

Tom Hopkins is the "Sales Basics" coach at Entrepreneur.com and is world-renowned as "the builder of sales champions." For the past 30 years, he's provided superior sales training through his company, Tom Hopkins International.

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2005 HOT 100 The Fastest-Growing New Business in America!

Brian Williams,
http://www.my-mortgage-loans.co.uk

2005 Hot 100 - Displaying 1 - 20

1	Huron Consulting Group   -   Chicago, IL www.huronconsultinggroup.com     Hot 100 Profile
Financial & operational consulting
Founder(s): Gary E. Holdren
Began: 2002
2004 Sales: $173.9M
Initial Investment: $22.8M
Success Secret: Everything must start with good people. I don't think there's any possible way we could have been so successful so quickly if it weren't for the quality of the people we have.

2	Badger State Ethanol   -   Monroe, WI www.badgerstateethanol.com
Ethanol production facility
Founder(s): Gary L. Kramer, John L. Malchine
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $92.1M
Initial Investment: $23.6M
Success Secret: Surround yourself with competent, dedicated and caring people.

3	Compass Energy Services Inc.   -   Richmond, VA www.compassenergy.net
Natural gas, coal, & oil sales & services/energy procurement outsourcing
Founder(s): Barry M. Koski, Christopher J. Ziegler, George A. Minor, James E. Johnson, Joseph C. Lyne Jr., Steven S. Baum
Began: 2002
2004 Sales: $43.3M
Initial Investment: $150K
Success Secret: You can't do it all yourself. Utilize the advice of many people, both internal and external, with expertise and experience in a lot of areas to help build your business.

4	Liquidity Services Inc.   -   Washington, DC www.liquidityservicesinc.com
Sales & marketing of surplus & wholesale goods
Founder(s): William P. Angrick, III, Benjamin R. Brown, Jaime Mateus-Tique
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $75.9M
Initial Investment: $12.5M
Success Secret: Three three key ingredients to a successful business are people, product and profit, in descending order of importance.

5	Fortinet Inc.   -   Sunnyvale, CA www.fortinet.com     Hot 100 Profile
Network security
Founder(s): Ken Xie, Michael Xie
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $55.3M
Initial Investment: $93M
Success Secret: Understand the requirements of your customers, believe in what you are developing, work hard, and surround yourself with a strong team.

6	Infologix Inc.   -   Warminster, PA www.infologixsys.com
Mobile wireless computing services
Founder(s): David Gulian, Richard Hodge, Craig Wilensky, Cosmo Dinacola, Al Ciardi
Began: 2001
2004 Sales: $43.3M
Initial Investment: $200K
Success Secret: Stay focused on the big picture and the long-term goals.

7	Ionic Media   -   Sherman Oaks, CA www.ionicmarketing.com
Marketing & media-buying agency
Founder(s): Michael Kubin, Jeff Bender
Began: 2003
2004 Sales: $22.6M
Initial Investment: $50K
Success Secret: Experience. This is the third company in the media planning and buying business that we've had, and if the combined experience of the two partners can't make us successful, then nothing will.

8	Media Storm   -   Norwalk, CT www.mediastorm.biz
Advertising agency
Founder(s): Tim A. Williams, Craig C. Woerz
Began: 2001
2004 Sales: $36.5M
Initial Investment: $90K
Success Secret: Develop a core competency and stick to it.

9	Adjoined Consulting   -   Miami, FL www.adjoined.com
Management consulting, technology integration & outsourcing firm
Founder(s): Rodney Rogers
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $50.1M
Initial Investment: $25M
Success Secret: When in doubt, attack.

10	SeamlessWeb Professional Solutions Inc.   -   New York, NY www.seamlessweb.com
Online food ordering & billing
Founder(s): Jason Finger, Paul Appelbaum, Todd Arky, Stefanie Finger
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $49.7M
Initial Investment: $345K
Success Secret: If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening an axe. -- Abraham Lincoln

11	Capital Media Group   -   Columbus, OH www.capitalmedia-group.com
Wholesale distribution of data media supplies
Founder(s): Tony Somers, Nate Williams, Andy Haenszel, John Roth, Bill Kleeh, Doug Broshar, Larry Pangalangan
Began: 2003
2004 Sales: $10.1M
Initial Investment: $170K
Success Secret: Getting the first order is easy. It's in getting the second, third and fourth orders that good companies are separated from the mediocre ones.

12	Ovation Pharmaceutical Inc.   -   Deerfield, IL www.ovationpharma.com
Pharmaceuticals
Founder(s): Jeffrey S. Aronin
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $38.8M
Initial Investment: $152M
Success Secret: Believe in yourself. Very often, people will doubt and challenge you. Be flexible but firm in your convictions and your vision.

13	Netezza Inc.   -   Framingham, MA www.netezza.com
Data warehouse appliance sales
Founder(s): Jit Saxena
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $35.9M
Initial Investment: $69M
Success Secret: A successful company is all about the value of human capital. Top-notch talent can turn a good product and opportunity into greatness.

14	Martin Capital   -   Clayton, GA www.martincap.com
Real estate financing & development
Founder(s): J. Ashley Martin
Began: 2001
2004 Sales: $30.1M
Initial Investment: $30K
Success Secret: Work hard. Good things don't come easy. Think about your decisions. Make sure you have thought about potential outcomes, and be prepared for all of them.

15	Louisiana Lumber   -   Slidell, LA
Lumber & building materials
Founder(s): James C. Shoemake, Wes Wyman
Began: 2001
2004 Sales: $23.9M
Initial Investment: $700K
Success Secret: Hire the right people in the beginning.

16	Sceptor Industries Inc.   -   Kansas City, MO www.sceptorindustries.com
Biosafety & biosecurity equipment
Founder(s): Richard S. Jarman
Began: 2001
2004 Sales: $18.7M
Initial Investment: $2.5M
Success Secret: Understand your niche in the market and be better at it than anyone else.

17	Debt XS LP   -   Addison, TX www.debtxs.com
Debt negotiation
Founder(s): Ken Talbert
Began: 2002
2004 Sales: $15.9M
Initial Investment: $25K
Success Secret: As an entrepreneur, it's easy to hear yes, but you should listen to no when the idea isn't right for the company.

18	Southampton Group LLC   -   Charlotte, NC www.southamptongroup.com
Residential builder
Founder(s): Jim Merrill, Jim McKinney, Paul Christenbury
Began: 2001
2004 Sales: $16.5M
Initial Investment: $20K
Success Secret: Always follow the golden rule-- treat your customers and employees like you would want to be treated. Build every home as if it were your own!

19	SUNRx Inc.   -   Cherry Hill, NJ www.sunrx.com
Pharmacy benefit administrator
Founder(s): Gerard J. Ferro
Began: 2001
2004 Sales: $17.8M
Initial Investment: $2.4M
Success Secret: Most people do not plan to fail, but fail to plan! Success is easier with a plan; planning is easier with a superior product.

20	BillBoard Video Inc.   -   Dallas, TX www.billboardvideo.com
LED advertising products/services
Founder(s): William Y. Hall
Began: 2000
2004 Sales: $26M
Initial Investment: $10.5K
Success Secret: The key to success in business and life is building and maintaining relationships.

 

Here are five simple tactics that will help you create a successful business that fills a need and fills your pockets. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,316314,00.html

Entrepreneurship is the art of finding profitable solutions to problems. Every successful entrepreneur, every successful businessperson has been someone who's been able to identify a problem and come up with a solution to it before somebody else did. If you want to start a business, read these five tactics for finding entrepreneurial success:

1. Find a need and fill it. When Ross Perot was working for IBM, he saw that his customers who were buying IBM computers needed help processing their data. He went to IBM with this idea, and they said they weren't interested, so he started his own business. He eventually sold it out for $2.8 billion dollars. He found a need and he filled it.
2. Find a problem and solve it. A secretary working for a small company began mixing flour with nail varnish in order to white out the mistakes she was making in her typing. Pretty soon, her friends in the same office asked if she could make some for them. So she began mixing it at her kitchen table. Then, people in other offices started asking for it, and she eventually quit her business and worked full time creating what is today called Liquid Paper. A few years ago, she sold her company to Gillette Corporation for $47 million.
3. Look for solutions. Find a way to supply a product or a service better, cheaper, faster or easier. Kemmons Wilson saw that there was a need for hotels that could accommodate families that were traveling, and he started Holiday Inns. And Holiday Inns has now become one of the most successful hotel chains in the world.
4. Focus on your customer. Become obsessed with your customer. Fixated on your customer. Think of what your customer wants, what your customer needs, what your customer will pay for, what your customer's problems are. Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM, built his company on this principle. See yourself as working for the customer.
5. Invest sweat equity in your business. Most great fortunes in America were started with an idea and with personal effort and were started with the sale of personal services. This is called sweat equity. In other words, instead of cash equity, put in sweat equity. Put in the sweat of your brow to begin your business. Once you've come up with a product or an idea, start to invest your time, talent and energy instead of your money, to get started.

Action Steps

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these tactics into action:

1. First, find a need and fill it. Look around you and search for needs that people have for products or services that are not being met. One small idea is enough to start you on the way to business success.
2. Second, find a problem and solve it. Look around you for problems that you or other people have that are not yet being solved. Look for solutions that nobody has thought of and give them a try. One good solution could change the direction of your life.

 

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