A group of about forty women were delighted to hear an entrepreneur success story at a recent “Women In Business,” luncheon in Layton, Utah. Two women who seemed like your next door neighbors, spoke about how they created a product that is now being sold by over 35,000 business consultants in the United States and bringing in revenues over $100 million annually.

Kara Egan and her sister-in-law Colette Gunnell, shared their story of creating a simple product that would bring many people pleasure. They created a wickless candle that was warmed by a low wattage light bulb. With many different scents for people they decided to name their company “Scentsy.”

Kara and her family were struggling financially because of her husband’s health problems. After watching an Oprah show on Millionaire Moms, Kara became determined that there must be something she could do to help her family. If regular people like the people she saw on the Oprah show can create products, then why couldn’t she do that too?

After watching a neighbor melt some of her old scented candles in an old potpourri burner, Kara got the idea to create scented flameless candles. She got on the phone with her sister-in-law and asked her if she would go into business with her. Colette said, YES!

Building your own company from scratch is not without challenges, but these two women conquered them with their determination and ingenuity. One important strategy they used was to make sure they knew about all the products currently available that were similar to theirs. They surveyed the market place and purchased any products that were similar to theirs. Repeatedly testing existing products and then creating a new product seemed to be the correct formula for their eventual success.

After manufacturing the products on their own and developing enough product for people to purchase, they started selling at local trade shows. It was at one of these trade shows that they met Orville Thompson and his wife Heidi. During one of the breaks at the long convention, Heidi took some of Scentsy bars home to share with her family. Her family and friends enjoyed them so much and that got Heidi’s husband’s attention.

Orville pictured this product becoming very popular. Kara and Colette allowed Orville to help them take their business to the next level. It was the contact that they made with Orville Thompson that began the transformation of their business from a local business to a nationwide business.

Orville and Heidi Thompson bought the entire company from Kara and Colette, who are now Scentsy consultants, on May 1, 2004. They decided to market the flameless candles through direct marketing which opened up a new team of sales people. The Scentsy products are manufactured in Meridian, Idaho where there are over 500 employees.

The two mothers, Kara and Colette, that created Scentsy are heroes to many women who strive to build successful businesses. Their determination, creativity and desire paid off for them as well has thousands of other Scentsy consultants. An entrepreneur’s dream come true. Congratulations!

If you are doing business offshore you will typically bank offshore in a convenient, tax advantaged location. However, you will still pay fees for financial transactions and the bank will still earn more on your deposits and from services than you do in interest. There is a way to make your banking needs, and those of others doing business offshore, work for you. You can start your own bank or offshore financial company (OFC).

Your immediate response may be that banks or offshore financial companies take a lot of capital and are subject to a lot of regulation which makes running a bank expensive. In this case we are talking about an offshore bank, such as a New Zealand Offshore Financial Company (NZOFC), which can be a different matter entirely.

What is Possible in Setting up an OFC

It is entirely possible to set up offshore banking in jurisdictions where the capital reserves requirements are definitely not those of a traditional bank in the same nation.

It is possible to set up a tax advantaged banking solution and to be able to offer traditional banking services including checking and savings accounts, credit and debit card services, trust account services, certificates of deposit, wire transfer services, and trust account services. The offshore financial company only offers these services to other offshore entities.

Who Sets Up an Offshore Financial Company?

Banks set up OFC’s. So do multination corporations and offshore corporations. Groups of companies do this to reduce their banking expenses and gain profits and investor groups do the same. The formation of an offshore financial company can result in substantial tax advantages for the investment, corporate, or banking group which is typically why they so so. It is possible to set up an offshore financial institution so that the cost of doing business is much less than in the countries where the bank shareholders come from.

Setting up a bank allows the entities mentioned above to profit from their own banking needs and profit from selling banking services to others. The tax advantages of offshore locations as well as well packaged services such as trust accounts, international credit and debit cards, savings and checking accounts, loan services if well merchandized, can attract business and provide a profit over and above the savings that the offshore bank will provide its shareholders.

Where Do the Laws Allow an Offshore Bank?

An excellent example of an offshore banking solution is a New Zealand Offshore Financial Company. New Zealand law allows one to set up a credit union, building society, or finance company as well as a registered bank in its jurisdiction. Any of these NZOFC’s can be set up by an offshore entity such as an offshore corporation. Customers are other offshore entities.

A New Zealand Offshore Finance Company does not require the substantial reserves required of a standard bank in New Zealand or elsewhere. Such an institution can be set up in such a way that reports to the New Zealand Federal Reserve Bank are not required. This can substantially reduce the work required and the cost of operation.

Despite the ease of operation of this opportunity and potential for a low cost of entry a New Zealand Financial Company can offer a full range of banking services to offshore customers, including checking and savings accounts, credit card services, and investment marketing.

The ease of operation and freedom from red tape in running a NZOFC basically comes from offering services only to clients offshore from New Zealand.

Business management combines an interesting mix of theory and practice, and it is a particularly good topic for management and entrepreneurial types to study. Finding a business management style that suits your personality and the nature of your business is both important and worthy of time investment, as being self-aware and being able to identify strengths and weaknesses of various approaches will enable more effective personal development and ultimately more effective management.

While many have their own individual business management styles, these are traditionally broadly categorized into three main classes of business management approaches.

Autocratic Management

Firstly, there is what has come to be known as the autocratic approach to management, which installs more trust in the leadership as opposed to the individual staff. This involves pulling rank and leaves employees in no doubt as to whom the management is or what decisions are being made. Rather than engaging employees within the decision making process, this business management style typically concerns businesses that require direct, effective leadership to produce results, often under pressure of working in a tough environment. Upon hearing the term autocratic, many tend to visualise a dictatorial approach to management. While that is perhaps the case, it is seldom as strict as this and it is often a necessary management style, for example in the armed forces or in a high-paced trading environment, where there is no margin for deliberation and group consideration.

Democratic Management

Alternatively, there is a business management style known as the democratic style, where employees are effectively engaged in consultation before decisions are made. While some consider this to be more motivating and more enjoyable to work under, it does nevertheless have its own disadvantages. Giving employees a say may undermine the authority of the management, and may ultimately cause inefficiencies in the decision making process. It is also time intensive, and perhaps not as effective in larger organisations with thousands of employees. While of course at a board room level this kind of decision making goes on everyday, it’s one that works most effectively in slower paced business where decisions can be fully deliberated and considered.

Laissez Fair Management

An alternative to those two business management styles and the third main category is what’s known as the laissez fair management style. This is by definition a more hands-off approach to management, which puts the trust of running the business within the hands of employees themselves, and allows a greater degree of autonomy than would otherwise be the case. While this is strong in creative industries, some business people find that this style of management can lead to a fragmented approach to doing business and is less organised and perhaps less professional.

Whichever business management style you liken yourself to; there are advantages and disadvantages of that approach. What’s important is not that you recognise which of these categories you fall under, but rather that you’re aware of the improvements that can be made to make your management more effective and efficient while also improving the relationships you share with employees at all levels of the organisation.