Donald Trump - A True Entrepreneur

Real Estate Mogul Donald Trump

First Published: Mar 4, 2011 EntrepreneurJourney.com

Donald Trump, who has primarily been known as a real estate tycoon, has different facets to his personality. He was the host of an extremely successful TV reality show, he is the owner of the world’s most popular beauty pageant and he is also a best-selling author. Though all are different personas, each are independently strong, smart and wealthy, which is what makes Donald Trump a true chameleon in the business world.

Business for Donald Trump actually runs in his blood. Born to a real estate developer, father Fred Trump, Donald studied business in Wharton Business School and was mentored by his father for 5 years before he took the plunge to lift the real estate industry to new heights. For Donald Trump, business has always been his first love. He has never limited himself to being a specialist in one field, but expanded in any direction that his money and his ideas may take him. As the Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, he not only develops real estate across the globe, but also manages hotels and resorts, golf courses and many other things. As Trump Entertainment Resorts founder, he manages casinos and hotels.

Donald Trump’s popularity rose to new levels when he produced (he was the show’s executive producer) and hosted The Apprentice, a reality show on NBC. It was indeed the ultimate job interview. The show first began in January 2004 and has ten successful seasons to its credit. The show was created by Mark Burnett wherein 16 to 18 business aspirants competed with each other in elimination style contest to become The Apprentice. The show also gave rise to the popular “You’re Fired” which Trump would say to the eliminated contest at the end of the show, a catchphrase that Trump has filed application for Trademark. Initially the payment for each episode was $50,000 but the show’s success and popularity catapulted not only Trump’s TV personality image but also his payment to three millions dollars per episode which is indeed the highest ever paid to any TV personality. Apart from this, Trump’s caricature versions were seen in numerous Hollywood films including The Little Rascals, Home Alone 2, The Nanny, etc. Trump was nominated twice for an Emmy Award.

Donald Trump is the co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization along with NBC – National Broadcasting Company and under the auspices holds various beauty pageants like Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and of course Miss Universe.

Donald Trump also has equal interest in sports. He is an avid golfer and a great World Wrestling Entertainment fan. Almost all Trump properties have golf courses that are designed and built on international standards. In fact one of his golf clubs at Westchester, the Trump National Golf Club, has won the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences International Five-Star Diamond Award. Apart from breathtaking golf holes, the club has stone bridges, winding streams and even a waterfall falling from a 101-foot height. In the wrestling world, Trump has done his bit by actively participating in the numerous wrestling shows (though not as a wrestler), many of which were held in Trump Plaza. He also briefly “owned” the WWE Raw from 15th June 2009 to 22nd June 2009.

Donald Trump’s other business ventures include The Trump Network, which deals in health products and allows people to receive coaching under Trump and become

entrepreneurs. Titled as the Wealth Creation System, people can register themselves in this network and would only need simple skills like telephone etiquette and a little extra time to work on. The members would receive guidance from Donald Trump himself by way of training videos and personalized letters. The company deals in vitamin supplements and health products like PrivaTest Custom Essentials, Silhouette Solution, QuikStik, Snazzle Snaxxs and Bioce Cosmeceuticals. Claiming to be made from natural bio-nutrients, QuikStik comes in 3 blends one for each part of the day – morning, afternoon and evening. The BioCé Cosmeceuticals range of beauty products include cleanser and toner, repair serum, eye contouring cream, daily cream, skin recovery cream, microdermabrasion procedure formula, cream mask and wrinkle filler.

In the field of finance, Donald Trump investments hold a 17.2% stake in the Bermuda-based Parker Adnan Company that deals in financial services. Trump organization also deals in the Trump merchandise luxury line that deals in books, apparel, home furnishings as well as jewelry. This includes the Ivanka Trump jewelry collection, the Signature collection of men’s apparel, Trump Vodka, Trump Home for home furnishings, Trump books and publications, Trump Ice that markets natural spring water, Trump chocolate and Trump Tea. The Signature range of men’s apparel markets men’s suits, dress shirts, neckwear, cuff links and jewelry, small leather goods and eyewear. All these products are marketed through Macy’s, Trump Tower, and eyewear specialty stores. Under Trump publications, Donald Trump has authored many best sellers such as How to Get Rich, Never Give Up, Think Like a Billionaire and Think like a Champion amongst other titles.

In the field of entertainment, Trump's organization manages Manhattan’s public skating rinks at Central Park – The Wollman Rink and the Lasker Rink. Various facilities offer skating lessons, an ice hockey gaming facility, and professional instructions are provided. Another division, the Trump Productions LLC based out of Los Angeles, deals in television show production. Some of these are the very popular The Apprentice reality show (6 seasons), The Celebrity Apprentice, telecasting beauty pageants (Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA), the Pageant Place reality series on MTV, and the latest show on MTV along the lines of the UK hit show “Ladette to Lady.” Under the entertainment division also comes the Trump Model Management which helps modeling and pageant aspirants come to the fore. Many models scouted and developed through Trump model management have appeared in movies and fashion magazines like Vogue as well as gone on to be winners of the beauty pageants. The division prides itself in expressing contemporary style and exquisite beauty.

Despite so many ventures, not all of which have necessarily been a path of roses, Donald Trump does not show any signs of slowing down and in his words, “Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.”

Brim Credit Card Updates

What’s Happening with Brim

Brim Financial announced created heavy buzz on the Canadian market when they announced new credit cards for Canadians with features such as no foreign transaction fee, Lounge Key membership, Boingo global Wi-Fi access, plus much more. It’s been more than two months since I applied for the Brim World Elite MasterCard and I haven’t heard from them since, so I decided to give them a call to find out what’s going on.

I spoke with two individuals at Brim and here is the summary of what they told me.

No Cards Have Been Issued Yet – Brim is still working on approving credit cards based on FIFO basis and they have not started issuing any credit cards yet. This is as of when I spoke with them about a week ago.

Lounge Key – I asked about lounge access and whether it’s just the annual membership they are offering or if it comes with membership + lounge entrances as well (like Scotia Passport Visa Infinite, which comes with Priority Pass membership + 6 entrances). I was told that they are offering only the Lounge Key (a lounge access program like Priority Pass) membership program, but no free entrances. You will have to pay each time you access a lounge, but you will be saving on the annual membership fee. The RBC WestJet World Elite MasterCard offers the same type of Lounge Key program.

Some Brim Cards Are Out There – There are some Brim credit cards in circulation, but they are given to the testers who are using these cards to test and make sure everything is working fine.

A few days later after talking to Brim, I received an alert from TransUnion on April 26, 2018 that Brim has made a credit inquiry. So it looks like they reached my application, but I have not heard anything from them yet about the status of my application.

Canada Ranks High

Canada Ranks High in Doing Business

First Published: Sep 10, 2008 ADawnJournal.com

The World Bank just published their Doing Business 2009 report and Canada is in the top ten of the easiest country to do business list - unchanged from the previous year. The World Bank ranked 181 countries. Heavy reforms have been found in 113 of those countries.

This report looks at ten indicators of business regulation that considers the time and cost to meet government requirements in starting and operating a business, paying taxes, trading across borders, and closing a business. This report does not look at currency volatility, macroeconomic policy, infrastructure, crime rates, or investor perceptions.

Let's look at some of the interesting highlights of this report:

Top Eight Countries (Unchanged from last year)

Singapore

New Zealand

The U.S.

Hong Kong

Denmark

United Kingdom

Ireland

Canada

Top Ten Reformers

Azerbaijan

Albania

Kyrgyz Republic

Belarus

Senegal

Burkina Faso

Botswana

Colombia

Dominican Republic

Egypt

Lowest-Ranked Ten Countries

Niger

Eritrea

Venezuela

Chad

São Tomé and Príncipe

Burundi

Congo, Rep.

Guinea-Bissau

Central African Republic

Congo, Dem. Rep.

Best Reformer - Azerbaijan

Venezuela - The only non-African country in the in Lowest-Ranked Ten Countries

Egypt and Colombia – Appeared on the list of the top ten reformers for the third time in four years

Twelve countries where found where you need government approval for land transfers.

Article Source: The World Bank,, Doing Business, and Doing Business Database. Links are provided below.

If you are interested in finding out more, visit the following websites –

The World bank - http://www.worldbank.org/

Doing Business - http://www.doingbusiness.org/

How To Choose A Business Name

Choosing A Business Name

First Published: Feb 21, 2011 EntrepreneurJourney.com

When you are starting a business, there are several things that you need to do in order to make the business successful and one of the most important is choosing the right name. As odd as it seems, choosing the wrong name can sink your business just as easily as if you screwed up a marketing campaign. The name of your business is the brand, logo and face of your business and it is the first thing people will notice about your business. So, if you are going to have a good business name, what do you need to do in order to make your business stand out?

Here are a few tips to help you out.

The first thing you need to do is to look around at businesses that are in the same market at you and see what they have in common with their names. This does not mean you need to choose something similar, but instead you are choosing something that is different but tells people what your business is. For example, if you own a coffee shop, you will probably have “coffee” “grind” or “java” in the name, as will other businesses.

The second thing you should do is make a list of about 20 names that you like and that you are considering for your business. This is important because it will allow you to research each name to see if you can use it. When you research, check to see if it is registered in your area, if anyone else is using a name similar to it and what the connotations of the name may be. For example, if you are opening a craft store, choosing the name Kristi’s Kooky Krafts may seem like a cute name until you look at the initials of your business name.

The third thing to do is to cut your list down to three main names. Those are the names you will choose from. Look at those names, are they witty? Do they stand out? Do they tell people what your business does? Are they misleading at all? Are they easy to put on a sign? How will they translate to a web address? For the last one, if you have a name that is A Dawn Coffee, then you can have a website that is adawncoffee.com. However, if your name is A Dawn Coffee Express and Homemade Grinds Shop, then adawncoffeeexpressandhomemadegrindsshop.com is a bit too long and too much for people to remember.

Once you have the name, you will need to register it. This will ensure that no one can take the name from you and you will be entitled to that name. No one can take the name and use it across the street from you, and it also helps when you are doing the business taxes for your company. So, choose wisely and your name could help your company well into the future.

Marriott & SPG New Hotel Loyalty Program

3 Things You Need to Know

What Will Happen to My SPG & Marriott Rewards Points?

The new rewards program (which does not have a name yet) will combine Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and SPG into a single program. SPG members will have to merge accounts with Marriott in August and will receive 1:3 new points. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton members don’t need to do anything.

What is the New Program Earn Rate?

Ten points per dollar spent at all brands except certain brands (Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Element) where you will earn 5 points. Elite members will earn bonus points that could go as high as 75%.

The Canadian Starwood Preferred Guest Card from American Express will earn 3 new points per dollar spent for everyday purchases. There will possibly be some changes coming to this card to reflect the new program.

How Many Points Do I Need for a Free Night?

Currently 3,000 SPG points or 7,500 Marriott points are required to get a Category 1 free night. The new points requirement to get a free night will be 7,500 (Cat 1) and 85,000 (Cat 8).

Starting in 2019, there will be a free night award chart and points required for a free night will be based on various factors such as peak time, standard and off-peak time, etc. Off-Peak is expected to cost about 20% less in points while the peak season is expected to cost 20% more for a free night.