Month: May 2020

This morning Exxon, the largest energy company in the world reported record profits of $10.36 billion for the second three months of the year. This was up from $7.64 billion from the same period a year ago. You will notice that the earnings were just shy of the record $10.71 billion they reported in the fourth quarter of last year, 2005. All companies have cushions; the accountants call them reserves. There is always flexibility in the reporting of a company’s earnings. Exxon very easily could have used their flexibility to come in with earnings that were below last year’s fourth quarter record in order to avoid the embarrassment of posting another new record quarter. The company knows that the Congress is looking over Exxon’s shoulder because the American people are looking over the gover

What is a Franchise? · An authorization to sell a company's goods or services in a particular place · A business established or operated under an authorization to sell or distribute a company's goods or services in a particular area. How did franchising start? One of the earliest franchisors was the Singer Sewing Machine® Company, which set up dealers shortly after the Civil War to sell and repair its revolutionary machines throughout the country. Shortly after the turn of the century, Coca-Cola® licensed others to manufacture and distribute its wonderful elixir. Ford Motor Company® later set up dealers to sell and service its products. Of course, McDonald's® is an example of how an entrepreneur (Ray Kroc) could take an idea and quickly spread it coast to coast (and eventually around t