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South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences
On-line version ISSN 2222-3436
Print version ISSN 1015-8812
S. Afr. j. econ. manag. sci. vol.17 n.3 Pretoria Jul. 2014
Potential entrepreneurs' assessment of opportunities through the rendering of a business plan
Melodi Botha; Claire Leanne Robertson
Department of Business Management, University of Pretoria
In the field of entrepreneurship and especially during start up, much emphasis is placed on the business plan with regard to entrepreneurship education and training, funding from external investors, business plan competitions and government development agencies in the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) sector. In many earlier studies of well-known entrepreneurship educators, the formulation of a business plan was identified as being the most important feature of any entrepreneurship programme or course. However, the relevance of a business plan has been a topic of intense and unresolved debates in more recent literature. This paper contributes to the literature with regard to the value a business plan adds to potential entrepreneurs. Furthermore it increases the understanding of how a detailed business plan (such as the approved business plan template of the University of Pretoria) can enable a potential entrepreneur to assess opportunities. The paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of business plans and the methods of assessing opportunities, in order to reveal similarities between the business plan and opportunity assessment. Based on descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as ANOVA, and Kruskal-Wallis tests, the findings support the hypotheses that potential entrepreneurs distinguish between ideas and opportunities and develop opportunities through the formulation of a detailed business plan. The pertinent academic and practical significance of this paper is that it highlights statistically significant differences proving that a detailed business plan is a tool that enables potential entrepreneurs to assess opportunities. From a practical point of view, this should help potential entrepreneurs to establish more viable business ventures; however, this would have to be statistically tested in further research. Finally, the study reestablishes the importance and purpose of a business plan in the field of entrepreneurship.
Key words: potential entrepreneurs, business plan and opportunity assessment
1 Introduction and research question
Barrow, Barrow and Brown (2001:6) note that perhaps the most important step in launching any new venture or expanding an existing one is the construction of a business plan. There are many authors who either agree or disagree with this statement. The debate surrounding the value of the business plan is evident in all relevant new business creation and entrepreneurship literature. The actual reason for the validity of the business plan is unclear. Is it because of the increased performance results, its ability to help the entrepreneur to obtain loans or to reduce risk? Or is it something else entirely? Numerous books and articles in the popular press attempt to dissect and analyse the business plan, while simultaneously a growing number of annual business plan contests are evident in many countries (Lange, Mollov, Pearlmutter, Singh & By grave, 2007:237), and both graduate and undergraduate schools devote entire courses to the subject (Honig, 2004:258). The University of Pretoria (UP) teaches the business plan as a subject on second year (undergraduate) and Masters' (postgraduate) levels.
Globally, governments spend enormous amounts of money on entrepreneurship education, coaching facilities and mentorship programmes in the SMME sector. The reason for this is that entrepreneurs act as engines of growth in the economy (Venkataraman, 1997:119; Ketchen, 2003:281; McMullen, 2011:185). Business plans are seen as the most central evaluation and educational tool in governmental support for new business ventures (Karlsson & Honig, 2009:28). Thus a very dominant product offering, in not only all governmental institutions but also in privately owned developmental institutions, is the business plan, or assistance in the preparation of the business plan. However, compiling a business plan is often an expensive and time-consuming task (Wickham, 2006:375). The time and resources that are spent by entrepreneurs who write their own business plans could have arguably been spent on other useful activities, such as obtaining new customers, or establishing good supplier relationships (Ashamalla, Orife, & Abel, 2008:383; Karlsson & Honig, 2009:28). Smeltzer, Van Hook and Hutt (1991:10) state that the business plan is difficult to prepare, requiring the entrepreneur to analyse all aspects of the venture.
Determining the value or importance of the business plan is imperative for the benefit of entrepreneurs, educators in entrepreneurship, researchers of entrepreneurship and government agencies involved in the development of entrepreneurship in the SMME sector. Many different authors believe that the most important step in launching any new business or expanding an existing one is the development of a business plan (Barrow et al., 2001:6). They emphasise that a business plan serves the purpose of defining the venture and explaining how it will operate in the marketplace (Hormozi, Sutton, McMinn & Lucio, 2002:755). A business plan provides not only internal benefits, but also has external functions (Ashamalla et al, 2008:381). Shane and Delmar (2004:782) demonstrated that completing business plans before undertaking marketing activities reduced the potential of termination of new ventures. These authors argue that the benefits of planning before action exceed the opportunity cost on the entrepreneur's time (Kickul, Gundry, Barbosa, & Whitcanack, 2009:439). Ashamalla et al. (2008:386) asked the question; "Are business plans a relic of the past, by asking a sample if they would agree with this statement: "Bum your business plan?" Only less than 5 per cent of the respondents agreed with the notion that business plans should be burnt (indicating that it is a relic of the past). Over 95 per cent disagreed, reflecting the thinking that business plans are still relevant today.
Based on the above discussion, it then put forward a hypothesised reason for the importance of the business plan, supported by more contemporary literature, aiming to determine the value of the business plan and justify the time, money and opportunity costs spent by entrepreneurs on formulating such a plan. The theoretically supported and statistically untested purpose of formulating a business plan is hypothesised to be opportunity assess mention (refer to Figure 1). Thus the main aim of the paper is to provide evidence that by formulating a business plan potential entrepreneurs can assess opportunities. Assessing opportunities encompasses two primary tasks: (a) distinguishing between an idea and opportunity; and (b) developing the opportunity. For the purpose of this paper, a potential entrepreneur is one who does not have a business yet but is in the process of gathering resources to start a business. The research question posed in this paper is as follows: Does formulating a business plan enable potential entrepreneurs to assess opportunities by (a) distinguishing between ideas and opportunities, and (b) developing their opportunities? The research question was filtered directly into the subsequent objectives and hypotheses, which are statistically tested.
Literature review
2.1 The value of a business plan
The business plan is a generally well-known document. Despite much emphasis being placed on business plans in the entrepreneurship field, there is still much discussion about the success of this tool to add value to entrepreneurs or their business ventures. The heated discussions emanate from the different purposes associated with the business plan as well as the uncertainty of the outcomes. A full understanding of past and present discussions is required in order to substantiate the theoretically supported and statistically untested purpose for the business plan: assessing opportunities.
The comprehensive analysis of the business plan revealed a variety of available business plan definitions, which is a possible explanation of the non-commensurability of the business plan literature as well as the business plan content. The definition of the business plan for the purpose of this study is: "A business plan carefully articulates the merits, requirements, risks and potential rewards of the opportunity and how it is seized" (Timmons & Spinelli, 2007:223). It is also imperative to note that the UP-approved business plan framework, which is a more detailed business plan framework, is suggested as the necessary business plan structure for the study's investigation of opportunity assessmention. The business plan structure from the University of Pretoria was converged from the top 12 business plans from financial institutions such as commercial banks, angel investors and venture capitalists in July 2006 by Sasol ChemCity and the UP (Botha & Bouwmeesters, 2006:1).
Appendix 1 illustrates the UP's business plan framework (Botha & Bouwmeesters, 2006: 1), and the authors whose literature corresponds to specific content.
2.2 Types of business plans
There are different types of business plans depending on the purpose. Different circumstances will require different types of business plans. Depending on the type of business plan, certain sections will be emphasised, as some information will be more important for certain circumstances or purposes. The purpose of a business plan can be multifaceted; however, it has been stated (Struwig, 2009:104) that a business plan has three primary purposes: (1) to serve an internal purpose for the business (one of the main objectives being planning), (2) to obtain funding, and (3) to be used as a tool for reducing risk. A purpose that has not been mentioned as a primary purpose is survival or success. A possible reason for this is that survival or success emanates from the three primary purposes; that is, as a result of obtaining funding, internal planning or reducing risk in the business, the venture is able to survive or succeed. The literature either agrees, agrees somewhat or disagrees. Inconsistency in research results may have been due to an inconsistency in business plan definition, content or formulation.
2.3 Assessing ideas, opportunities and business plans
Not all literature distinguishes between ideas and opportunities (Wickham, 2006:235). Perhaps the authors are unaware of the distinctive nature of these concepts, or else they disagree with distinguishing between the two concepts. There are some authors who allude to the distinction but do not state it clearly (Hisrich, Peters & Shepherd, 2008:152). However, there are numerous authors who do distinguish between the two concepts (Nieman & Nieuwenhuizen, 2009:86; Timmons & Spinelli, 2007:118), primarily in the field of entrepre-neurship. This paper concurs with the latter group of authors. In fact, the distinction between these two concepts, ideas and opportunities, is significant to this study. Ideas, for the purpose of this study, are defined as a combination of the following: "A necessary but not sufficient condition for business opportunities to emerge" (Dimov, 2007:718), and "Not a feasible and viable business opportunity" (Nieman & Nieuwenhuizen, 2009: 85). Business or entrepreneurial opportunities, for the purpose of the study, are defined as the following: "A potentially feasible, profit-seeking business that offers a new product/ service to the market, improves an already-existing product/service or imitates a profitable product/service in a non-saturated market" (Singh, 2001:10-12).
Evaluation is key to differentiating an idea from an opportunity (Hills & Shrader, 1998: 32). This study distinguishes two primary tasks included in opportunity assessment, resulting from two dominant definitions found through an analysis of the business opportunity literature: (a) distinguishing opportunities from ideas (Krueger, 1993:5; Krueger & Brazeal, 1994:91; Krueger, 2000:5; Keh, Foo & Lim, 2002:125), and (b) developing opportunities (Ardichvili, Cardozo & Ray, 2003:113; Dimov, 2007:714). These two tasks may take place simultaneously or in random order.
The literature review concludes with opportunity assessment criteria and the similarities found to the UP business plan criteria. Table 1 reflects the comparison between the UP business plan content and opportunity assessment criteria). One opportunity assessment, as presented in Table 1, stood out from the rest, as it was the most extensive. This opportunity evaluation is presented by Timmons and Spinelli (2007: 128) and supported by Nieman and Nieuwenhuizen (2009:87). Table 1 demonstrates the corresponding information needed to assess an opportunity accurately and the information needed to be gathered and interpreted to formulate a business plan. However, Timmons and Spinelli (2007:228) suggest that there are differences between the business plan and the opportunity assessment. They state that the business plan needs to contain more detail and strategies and this was also adopted in the UP business plan framework. It is stated that the opportunity assessment is the foundation for the business plan. Nonetheless, the extensive overlap cannot be ignored. Approximately 90 per cent of information required to assess opportunities corresponds with information that is required in the business plan, which in both instances would need to be researched, gathered and processed by the potential entrepreneur.
Thus this study was conducted to establish whether potential entrepreneurs assess opportunities through the formulation of a detailed business plan such as the UP business plan (Botha & Bouwmeesters, 2006:1).
There are hundreds of examples of what the business plan should constitute. This paper now compares the content (business plan framework) of business plans from leading development institutions, software programmes and textbooks, to the content of the UP's business plan, presented in the above table. Australia's business plan (for immigrants acquiring a 'Business Talent Visa'), Business Plan Pro-Writer, and Business Partners' business plan are all reputable in the entre-preneurship field. Morrisette and Hatfield (2010:125) state that the "canned" structure of the business plan taken from Jeffrey Timmon's text, is also excellent.
From analysing the information shown in the tables above, it is concluded that the UP business plan framework is indeed an effective and detailed business plan structure and is a good framework and foundation to follow. However, the entrepreneur must remember that the amount of detail and the order in which information is presented can vary for each particular situation and will depend upon the purpose of the plan and the age and stage of the business venture, among other factors (Timmons & Spinelli, 2007:229).
2.4 The business plan for the purpose of assessing opportunities
It is suggested (Timmons & Spinelli, 2007:92; Ardichvilia, Cardozo & Ray, 2003:109) that by addressing the types of questions necessary to shape the opportunity, the resources and the team, the founder begins to mould the idea into an opportunity, and the opportunity into a business plan. This paper postulates that the inverse is also true, by gathering and interpreting the information needed to formulate the business plan, one then has all the information in order to make a more accurate and informed decision of whether their idea is an opportunity. Furthermore the process of formulating the business plan (researching, gathering, and analysing information) allows for opportunity development/exploration. There are a few authors who have already alluded to the business plan's potential to assess opportunities. Delmar and Shane (2003:1165), include as part of business planning: the processes of gathering and analysing information, evaluating required tasks, identifying risks and strategy, projecting financial developments, and documenting these things in a written plan, in other words formulating a business plan. Wyckham and Wedley (1990:48) demonstrated the value of the business plan in distinguishing feasible ventures (opportunities) from unfeasible ventures (ideas).
The business plan itself is the culmination of a usually lengthy, arduous, creative, and iterative process that can transform a caterpillar (a raw idea) into a magnificent butterfly (an opportunity) (Timmons & Spinelli, 2007:223). In writing and developing the business plan, the potential entrepreneur is forced to think about the various aspects of the business venture. This in itself means that information needs to be collected on all aspects of the opportunity and the resulting business venture (Nieman & Nieuwenhuizen, 2009:22).
Pretorius (2008:14) states that a full opportunity analysis and assessment is a similar task to that undertaken for the start-up of a new venture, and core to the components of a business plan. Bishop and Nixon (2006:31) suggested that developing assessment decision aids might help improve potential entrepreneurs' evaluations, regardless of their experience levels. An evaluation tool would help entrepreneurs make more objective decisions regarding opportunity assessment. It could be argued that it might be difficult for entrepreneurs, especially for potential entrepreneurs, to just rely on cognitive ability to assess opportunities. Therefore a tool that could guide them would be most advantageous. This study postulates that the business plan, being so populous and similar to opportunity assessment, could be this tool.
"A good business plan must be developed in order to exploit the defined opportunity" (Hisrich et al., 2008:13). This study is in agreement with this statement but also postulates that the formulation of a business plan is even more important for the evaluation of business opportunities. The distinguishment between ideas and opportunities results from the gathering and interpreting of the required corresponding information for business plans and opportunity assessment. Figure 2 highlights that the development of opportunities through the formulation of a business plan, which allows a potential idea to be shaped, transformed, or improved into a business opportunity, is imperative to this study and will substantiate the value of a business plan for potential entrepreneurs. Thus a theoretically supported and statistically untested purpose for the formulation of a business plan is hypothesised, assessing opportunities.
3 Research design
In this study, quantitative research is conducted. The purpose of this study is to ascertain through causal research whether there is a correlation or more specifically causality between the formulation of a business plan and the assessment of opportunities.
In this study, the business plan is the independent variable (IV), and assessment of opportunities the dependent variable (DV). Business ownership; when the business was started; education; and how the business plan was formulated were also added and included as independent variables (IVs). The study hypothesised the relationship of the above independent and dependent variables. The hypotheses stated in this study are explanatory (causal) hypotheses, as there was an implication that the existence of one or a change in one variable caused or led to a change in the other variable (Cooper & Schindler, 2008:66).
Unfortunately, most research studies cannot be carried out experimentally by manipulating variables. However, one can still study subjects that have been exposed to the independent variable and those that have not, and compare the results (Cooper & Schindler, 2008:156). This is known as ex post facto design, which is used in this study. In the ex post facto design the research has to accept the world the way it is found; investigators have no control over the variables in the sense of being able to manipulate them (Cooper & Schindler, 2008:143).
The study adopted the simple random sampling technique, which is a probability sampling procedure, and the questionnaire as the method for data collection, as information about past events is often available only through surveying or interviewing people who remember the events (Cooper & Schindler, 2008:215). The questionnaire consists of the following main sections:
Section 1: solicits demographic and socioeconomic information about previous or current potential entrepreneurs such as gender, age, level of education, race, and business ownership status.
Section 2: addresses the different aspects regarding the business plan. It identifies how the business plan was formulated as well as the content detail of the business plan in accordance with the UP business plan.
Section 3: contains questions about opportunity assessment. Primarily the questions relate to identifying between ideas and opportunities and the development of opportunities. The funnel technique is utilised in this section.
This study concluded that the online questionnaire would be the optimum method, due to the sampling required as well as the use of available resources. However, during the data collection period, an alternation method was added in order to increase the actual sample size. Questionnaires were handed out, via the random sampling method, to BCom and Μ Phil UP students in a controlled environment during their examinations. The questionnaire was administered to 260 sample units in the sample frame, selected through the sampling process (Figure 3 explains the sampling process and how data was collected). This study's sample frame included respondents from Absa Enterprise Development branches across South Africa, SoftstartBTI and Business Partners (incubators), and UP students who studied BCom (Entrepreneurship) or MPhil (Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management). Due to the nature of these institutions, the respondents were guaranteed to have been potential entrepreneurs at some point, regardless of their current entrepreneurial status.
The actual sample size was 76, as 80 responses were successfully completed and returned, while four respondents had to be excluded from the study, as they did not have business plans. A pilot study was conducted on three respondents, a statistical analyst and academics in order to test the design of the questionnaire. This study's target population or research population is previous potential entrepreneurs or current potential entrepreneurs in South Africa that were new or inexperienced when they formulated their business plan.
The study uses descriptive and inferential statistics to analyse the data collected. Descriptive statistics are the elementary transformation of raw data, in a way that describes the basic characteristics such as the central tendency, variability and shape of the distributions. Frequency tables, cross-tabulations, bar graphs and pie graphs are utilised in order to illustrate the descriptive statistics. This study consists of 'more than 2' subsamples, which were independent, and the measurement scales included nominal, ordinal and interval scales. The following statistical tests are employed in the analysis of this study: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Factor analysis is utilised to confirm validity as well as reliability in the study. It is important to note that factor analysis was done on the two factors separately and that each factor had nine items therefore the sample size of 76 was sufficient and factor analysis could be carried out successfully.
3.1 Hypotheses testing
The study performed hypotheses testing in order to accept or reject the null or alternative hypotheses. The three hypotheses developed are supported by the literature but they needed to be statistically tested and then either accepted or rejected, based on the findings and the levels of significance. If the probability of the occurrence of the observed data was smaller than the level of significance, then the data would suggest that the null hypothesis should be rejected.
Two types of errors can be committed in hypotheses testing, with the possibility of four situations. Under these situations, the null hypothesis could be either true or false and the decision to accept or reject the null hypothesis would emanate from a statistical decision. Type I error is rejecting a null hypothesis that should not be rejected, and a Type II error is not rejecting a null hypothesis that should be rejected (Diamantopoulos & Schlegelmilch, 2000:138).
4 Empirical results
4.1 Demographics of the sample
Out of the total sample (76 respondents), the male respondents represented 68.4 per cent (52 respondents), with the remaining 31.6 per cent (24 respondents) being female. The youngest age is 19 and the oldest age 68. The average mean is 30.36 with a standard deviation of 11.66. The derived standard deviation of the age of respondents in this study, which is fairly high, represents a good assortment of ages. Regarding the respondents' education, the two categories with the most representation of respondents are Grade 12 learners, 34.2 per cent (26 respondents), and university postgraduates, 31.6 per cent (24 respondents), followed by university undergrad-duates, 17.1 per cent (13 respondents) and students from technikons, 7.9 per cent (7 respondents). This is a good distribution split between secondary and technikon, tertiary (university) and advanced tertiary (university) education.
4.2 Data regarding business plans from the research sample
This subsection identified what business plan template had been utilised by the sample. The results indicate that 46.1 per cent (35 respondents) of the sample used the UP business plan (Botha & Bouwmeesters, 2006:1) template. This is an expected finding, due to the B. Com and M. Phil. Entrepreneurship students being included in the sample population. The percentage split allows for a comparison and statistical testing to be done between the UP business plan and the other business plans utilised. Respondents who used their own templates accounted for 15.8 per cent (12 respondents) of the total, followed by a consultants' template 10.5 per cent (12 respondents), other (combination of business plans) 9.2 per cent (7 respondents), internet and development agency's template, both 6.6 per cent (5 respondents each) and lastly no template, 5.3 per cent (4 respondents).
4.3 Inferential statistics used to test the hypotheses
This study's hypothesis 1 read as follows:
H1o: Potential entrepreneurs do not distinguish between ideas and opportunities through formulating a detailed business plan.
H1a: Potential entrepreneurs distinguish between ideas and opportunities through formulating a detailed business plan.
Approximately 90 per cent of information required to assess opportunities corresponds with information that is required in the business plan, which in both instances would need to be researched, gathered and processed by the potential entrepreneur. This study distinguished two primary tasks included in opportunity assessment, resulting from two dominant definitions found through an analysis of the business opportunity literature. One of them was distinguishing opportunities from ideas (Krueger & Brazeal, 1994:91; Krueger, 1993:5; Krueger, 2000:5; Keh et al., 2002:125).
The data regarding business plans from the research sample revealed a variety of business plan templates used, with detail ranging from very basic to very detailed. However, in each section in the business plan the highest count fell in the detailed or very detailed categories.
The data from the research sample regarding distinguishing between ideas and opportunities revealed that the majority of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the statements presented to them in the questionnaire. The results indicated that 71.1 per cent to 85.5 per cent of respondents distinguished between ideas and opportunities when formulating their business plan.
Factor analysis (refer to Appendix 2) was done to establish the reliability and validity on the factor which was labelled as 'distinguishing between ideas and opportunities'. The Eigen value for this factor was 5.46590, and the factor explained 54 per cent of the variance in data. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.9146.
In order to employ ANOVA, two assumptions are required; (1) normal distribution of the residuals, and (2) equal variances. These assumptions were tested and the results showed that this was not the case. Therefore, a 'Normal Blom Transformation' was conducted, which then resulted in the assumptions been met and the study could continue with the running of ANOVA. Transformations are usually applied so that the data appear to more closely meet the assumptions of a statistical inference procedure that is to be applied. ANOVA was done to investigate the influence of the IV on the DV. It is important to note that ANOVA was done on the factor of which nine items measured the respondents' ability to distinguish between ideas and opportunities and on a question that directly asked the respondents to which degree they could distinguish between ideas and opportunities. In Table 3 it can be seen as Factor: distinguishing between ideas and opportunities and direct question. The first significant finding involved the variables 'business plan' and 'factor:
distinguishing between ideas and opportunities'. The p-value was 0.0260, thus the p-value< 0.05, which revealed that a real, significant difference was found. These results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the respondents' ability to distinguish between ideas and opportunities through the formulation of a business plan, depending of the different types of business plan templates used. Thus, respondents who used a UP business plan, which is guaranteed to be detailed, stated they distinguished more strongly between ideas and opportunities meaning that their scores where better than the respondents who used other templates. The means for the UP template used was 1.62, Development agencies and consultants' templates was 2.26 and own template, internet template, no template or other was 2.21. The second significant finding involved the variables 'business ownership' and the 'direct question'. The p-value was 0.0434, thus the p-value< 0.05, which revealed that a real, significant difference was found. These results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the respondents' perception of their ability to distinguish between ideas and opportunities after formulating a business plan depending on their current business ownership status. Respondents that currently had businesses showed slightly higher confidence levels in their ability to distinguish between ideas and opportunities, compared with respondents who did not currently have businesses.
The Kruskal-Wallis analysis (refer to Table 4) was done to compare the ability of respondents to distinguish between ideas and opportunities between the different types of entrepreneurs
(potential, new or established). The p-value was 0.0401, thus the p-value<0.05, which revealed that a real, significant difference was found. Current potential entrepreneurs that had not yet started their business but planned on starting their own business indicated more strongly that through the formulation of the business plan they could distinguish between ideas and opportunities. Note: On the questionnaire the lowest score indicates the positive (strongly agree) and the highest score indicates the negative (strongly disagree).
Based on the tests conducted and the empirical results achieved, the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative hypothesis was accepted.
This study's hypothesis 2 read as follows:
H2o: Potential entrepreneurs do not develop opportunities through formulating a detailed business plan.
H2a: Potential entrepreneurs develop opportunities through formulating a detailed business plan.
Approximately 90 per cent of the information required to assess opportunities corresponds with information that is required in the business plan, which in both instances would need to be researched, gathered and processed by the potential entrepreneur. This study distinguished two primary tasks included in opportunity assessment, resulting from two dominant definitions found through an analysis of the business opportunity literature. One of them was developing opportunities (Ardichvili et al., 2003:113; Dimov, 2007:714).
The data from the research sample regarding opportunity development revealed that the majority of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the statements presented to them in the questionnaire. The results indicated that 72.4 per cent to 86.8 per cent of respondents developed opportunities when formulating their business plan.
Factor analysis (refer to Appendix 2) was done to establish the reliability and validity on the factor which was labelled as 'developing opportunities'. The Eigen value for this factor was 4.19933, and the factor explained 41 per cent of the variance in data. The Cronbach's alpha score was 0.8458.
ANOVA was done to investigate the influence of the IV on the DV. It is important to note that ANOVA was done on the factor of which nine items measured the respondents' ability to develop opportunities and on a question that directly asked the respondents to which degree their business idea changed or improved during the formulation of their business plans. In Table 3 it can be seen as Factor: developing opportunities and direct question. The only significant finding involved the variables 'business plan' and 'factor: developing opportunities'. The p-value was 0.0545, thus the p-value<0.1, which revealed that a significant difference was found. These results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between the respondents' ability to develop opportunities through the formulation of a business plan depending on the type of business plan template used. Thus, respondents who used a UP business plan, which is guaranteed to be detailed, had better scores than the respondents who used other templates. The means for the UP template used was 1.66, Development agencies and consultants' templates were 2.01 and own template, internet template, no template or other was 2.09.
Based on the tests conducted and the empirical results achieved, the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative hypothesis was accepted.
This study distinguished two primary tasks included in opportunity assessment, resulting from two dominant definitions found through an analysis of the business opportunity literature; (a) distinguishing opportunities from ideas (Krueger, 1993:5; Krueger & Brazeal, 1994:91; Krueger, 2000:5; Keh et al, 2002: 125), and (b) developing opportunities (Ardichvili et al, 2003: 113; Dimov, 2007:714). Due to the fact that the alternative hypotheses 1 and 2 were accepted (null hypotheses rejected), the conclusion is made that potential entrepreneurs assess opportunities through formulating a detailed business plan, as they could distinguish between ideas and opportunities and could develop opportunities.
Table 5 summarises the two null and alternative hypotheses in this study, the results indicated in the hypothesis testing above, as well as the significance level utilised.
In reviewing the relationships built around the hypotheses, the study found strong support for hypotheses 1 and 2. These hypotheses were composed of the relationships between the business plan (IV), and the DVs regarding opportunity assessment, which are summarised in figure 4.
Crucially for the study, statistically significant differences were found between the respondents' actual ability to distinguish between ideas and opportunities and develop opportunities (factors measured) and the type of business plan used. Respondents who used a UP business plan, which is guaranteed to be detailed, stated they distinguished more strongly between ideas and opportunities, and respondents who used the UP business plan stated more strongly that they developed their opportunities. These are the results of the respondents answering questions strategically designed to test the ability of the respondents to assess opportunities. Very interestingly, when the respondents were asked the questions directly about their ability to assess opportunities, in order to gauge their perceptions, no statistically significant differences are found with regard to the type of business plan.
5 Limitations of this study and areas for further research
Although this study meets all applicable criteria for scientific validated research, the researcher must note some limitations encountered.
Questionnaires were sent out to 260 sample units, but the actual sample size is 76, as 80 responses were successfully completed and returned while four respondents had to be excluded from the study, as they did not have business plans. Although 76 is still a satisfactory sample size, the planned sample size was 100 or more. However, due to time constraints, the study did not reach the planned sample figures. The sample size affects the confidence or faith attached to the results of the study (Welman, Kruger & Mitchell, 2005:70) as well as the statistical significance of statistical tests.
The respondents were required to already have a business plan in order to complete the questionnaire. Thus, the formulation of their business plan was a past event. Information about past events is often available only through surveying or interviewing people who remember the events (Cooper & Schindler, 2008:215). The study's questionnaire asked respondents to please answer honestly and accurately, but this researcher was aware of the differing time lapses between the respondents formulating their business plan and answering this questionnaire, which could cause slight distortion of actual events.
The most common levels of significance are 0.05 or 0.01, which result in confidence levels of 95 per cent or 99 per cent, respectively. This study also used a 0.1 level of significance, which results in a confidence level of 90 per cent and is not infrequent in research but is not among those most commonly used. The reason for utilising this level of significance was that one of the results marginally missed the 0.05 level of significance and thus this step was taken to avoid Type II error as well as to avoid losing a significant finding.
This study proposes the following future research areas as a means to further validate and meaningfully expand this study:
- Repeat entrepreneurs (also known as serial entrepreneurs) were not included in this study as they could be expected to be different from first-time entrepreneurs. Experience is expected to influence assessing opportunities. Thus it would be interesting to extend this study to repeat entrepreneurs.
- Investigating the cognitive processes involved in formulating a business plan was beyond the scope of this study; however, they are a vital component in explaining why the formulation process aids opportunity assessment. Thus research in this area would be significant for further validation of this study.
- The question arises: if potential entrepreneurs assess opportunities through the formulation of a business plan, would this help potential entrepreneurs establish more viable business ventures? In order to investigate this, a longitudinal study would be required.
In a former study of leading entrepreneurship educators, the development of a business plan was identified as being the most important feature of entrepreneurship courses (Hills, 1988:109). However, the relevance of a business plan has been a topic of intense and unresolved debates in more recent literature.
Thus this study analysed the relevant literature and hypothesised a future purpose of the business plan. Based on the tests conducted and the empirical results achieved, the null hypotheses (1 and 2) were rejected and the alternative hypotheses (1 and 2) were accepted. Thus, this study is significant as it proves that potential entrepreneurs distinguish between ideas and opportunities and, importantly, develop opportunities through the formulation of a detailed business plan. Therefore potential entrepreneurs assess opportunities through the formulation of a detailed business plan. The postulations are strongly supported theoretically and now the hypotheses are supported empirically.
The pertinent academic and practical significance of this study is that the study found statistically significant differences proving that a business plan is a tool that enables potential entrepreneurs to assess opportunities. Importantly, this study indicates that a detailed business plan is necessary for this purpose of assessing opportunities. Theoretically this should help potential entrepreneurs establish more viable business ventures; however, this would have to be statistically tested in further research. Finally, it re-establishes the importance or value of a business plan in the field of entrepreneurship.
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BISHOP, K. & NIXON, R.D. 2006. Venture opportunity evaluations: comparisons between venture capitalists and inexperienced pre-nascent entrepreneurs. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 11(1):19-33. [ Links ] BOTHA, M. & BOUWMEESTERS, A. 2006. The content and format of a business plan. Unpublished document. Pretoria: University of Pretoria. [ Links ]
BRINCKMANN, J., GRICHNIK, D. & KAPSA, D. 2008. Should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle? A meta-analysis on contextual factors impacting the business planning-performance relationship in small firms. Journal of Business Venturing,, doi:10.1016/j.jbusvent.2008.10.007 [1 -17]. [ Links ]
COOPER, D.R. & SCHINDLER, P.S. 2008. Business research methods. (10th ed.) Singapore: McGraw-Hill. [ Links ]
DELMAR, F. & SHANE, S. 2003. Does business planning facilitate the development of new ventures? Strategic Management Journal, 24:1165-1185. [ Links ]
DIAMANTOPOULOS, A. & SCHLEGELMILCH, B.B. 2000. Taking the fear out of data analysis. Singapore: Thompson. [ Links ]
DIMOV, D. 2007. Beyond the single-person, single-insight attribution in understanding entrepreneurial opportunities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 31:713-731, September. [ Links ]
FOO, M.D., WONG, P.K. & ONG, A. 2005. Do others think you have a viable business idea? Team diversity and judges' evaluation of ideas in a business plan competition. Journal of Business Venturing, 20:385-402. [ Links ] HILLS, G.E. 1988. Variations in university entrepreneurship education: an empirical study of an evolving field. Journal of Business Venturing, 3:109-122. [ Links ]
HILLS, G.E. & SHRADER, R.C. 1998. Successful entrepreneurs' insights into opportunity recognition. In Reynolds, P.D., Bygrave, W.B., Carter, N.M., Manigart, S., Mason, C.M., Meyer, G.D. & Shaver, K. G. (eds.) Frontiers of entrepreneurship research. Babson College, Babson Park, MA:30-43. [ Links ] HISRICH, R.D., PETERS, M.P. & SHEPHERD, D.A. 2008. Entrepreneurship. (7th ed.) Boston, MA: Irwin/ McGraw-Hill. [ Links ]
HONIG, B. 2004. Entrepreneurship education: toward a model of contingency based business planning. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 3(3):258-273. [ Links ]
HORMOZI, A., SUTTON, G., MCMINN, R. & LUCIO, W. 2002. Business plans for new or small business: paving the path to success. Management Decision, 40(8):755-765. [ Links ]
KARLSSON, T. & HONIG, B. 2009. Judging a business by its cover: an institutional perspective on new ventures and the business plan. Journal of Business Venturing, 24:27-45. [ Links ]
KEH, H.T., FOO, M.D. & LIM, B.C. 2002. Opportunity evaluation under risky conditions: the cognitive processes of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 27(2):125-148, Winter. [ Links ]
KETCHEN, D.J., Jr. 2003. Entrepreneurship: past accomplishments and future challenges. Journal of Management, 29(3):281-283. [ Links ]
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KRUEGER, N.F. Jr. 2000. The cognitive infrastructure of opportunity emergence. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 24(3):523. [ Links ]
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LANGE, J.E., MOLLOV, A., PEARLMUTTER, M., SINGH, S. & BYGRAVE, W.D. 2007. Pre-start-up formal business plans and post-start-up performance: a study of 116 new ventures. Venture Capital, 9(4):237256. [ Links ]
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Accepted: August 2013


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Pitching, defense putting pep in Mets' step
NEW YORK -- Nothing succeeds like success. Or something like that. Maybe the New York Mets aren't using those exact words, but they definitely understand the sentiment.
"It's impossible to beat your chest and walk with a little pep in your step when you're not winning," Mets captain David Wright said. "But when you get a few series wins under your belt and you beat some good teams and you take care of business at home, you start to feel like you gain that confidence."View Full Game Coverage
NEW YORK -- Nothing succeeds like success. Or something like that. Maybe the New York Mets aren't using those exact words, but they definitely understand the sentiment.
"It's impossible to beat your chest and walk with a little pep in your step when you're not winning," Mets captain David Wright said. "But when you get a few series wins under your belt and you beat some good teams and you take care of business at home, you start to feel like you gain that confidence."View Full Game Coverage
That could be exactly what is happening with these Mets. It's a long season with all sorts of challenges ahead. No one wins anything in April. On the other hand, for a team like the Mets, who have not had a winning season since 2008, these first baby steps count for something.
Anyway, at the moment, the Mets are checking all the boxes, and so there are some nice vibes floating through Queens. They won again Sunday afternoon, beating the Marlins, 4-0, at Citi Field. They did it with terrific pitching from Dillon Gee, a couple of dazzling defensive plays from Wright and Daniel Murphy and a two-run home run from Chris Young.
"That's the way we have to play," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We feel good about where we are. We thought we could have won a couple more. That's what it is. That's what the game is."
Thus ended a 6-4 homestand that included winning three of four against the Cardinals and two of three against the Marlins. At 14-11, the Mets are alone in second place in the National League East, 3 1/2 games behind the Braves.
Their rotation has 17 quality starts, which is top five in the Majors. That is what led them on Sunday as Gee pitched eight scoreless innings against a Marlins team that began the day as the third-highest scoring club in the National League.
Mets starters have allowed three runs or fewer in 12 of their past 13 games, and so an offense that is off to a slow start has needed to produce only a little bit.
"We're all feeding off each other right now," Gee said. "Somebody picks us up every day, and that's what good teams do. We've scored a lot of runs the last few days. We're playing well as a team."
The Mets scored a combined 10 runs in their past two games, but they also have four regulars -- right fielder Curtis Granderson, shortstop Ruben Tejada, left fielder Eric Young Jr. and Young -- hitting .200 or less.
"Our pitching staff is the reason we are where we are," Young said. "It's not the offense. They're throwing up zeros and giving us a chance to scrap a couple runs across the plate. The majority of games are going to be close games. They'll give us an opportunity."
Defense? The Mets have some of that, too. Actually on Sunday, they had some spectacular defense, the kind of defense that reflects a growing confidence in making whatever plays need to be made.
It started early when the second Marlins hitter of the game, Marcell Ozuna, hit a slow tapper toward second base. Murphy made a bare-handed grab, and in one motion he made a laser throw to first to get the out.
As nice as that play was to watch, it was only the warmup act. In the fourth inning, Wright sprinted down the left-field line, positioned and repositioned himself and somehow made a dazzling sliding, over-the-shoulder catch of a Casey McGehee pop.
"I kind of guessed right where the ball was going to be," Wright said.
An inning later, Young's home run put the Mets up, 4-0, and that was that. This was exactly what Mets general manager Sandy Alderson had in mind when he remade the club over the winter, adding Young, Granderson and Bartolo Colon via free agency. He just made another move that could end up being important in adding one of baseball's respected old pros, Bobby Abreu.
Collins loves the idea of having Abreu, 40, on his bench because he has had every role imaginable and knows how to prepare for them and how to go to home plate with a purpose. If Abreu's young teammates are paying attention, his influence could extend beyond his actual production.
Every player Alderson added has been part of playoff teams, and so in putting them in a clubhouse with a star like Wright and rising young player like catcher Travis d'Arnaud, the Mets have a different look, if not a different feel.
"We talked in Spring Training endlessly about what it takes to win up here and what we've got to do as a ballclub," Collins said. "We've made some changes we think will help as we get into the middle of the season. We haven't gotten off to the offensive start we thought we might. But we've battled. We've hung in there and battled. When the big guys starting swinging the bats like we know they can, it becomes a different lineup for sure."
Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. Read his blog, Justice4U.

subset: commoncrawl


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Republicans Table Bullock's Job Bill That Would Require 75% of Laborers on State and Local Projects Be Montana Residents
HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A Republican-led committee is rejecting Gov. Steve Bullock's plan to increase the mandatory hiring percentage of Montana workers on public-works projects in the state.
The House Business and Labor Committee tabled House Bill 490 Thursday with an 11-9 vote.
The measure would have required that at least 75 percent of the laborers on state or local projects be Montana residents. The current requirement is 50 percent.
Democratic Rep. Amanda Curtis of Butte is carrying the bill for the governor. She told the House panel that neighboring states have even more stringent mandates.
Idaho requires that 95 percent of public-works laborers are state residents. Wyoming and North Dakota have similar measures.
The Montana Contractors Association backed the measure during a Wednesday news conference.


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By Brian DeCandia, Sports Information Graduate Assistant
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Georgia College women's cross country program placed third in the Augusta State University Jaguar Invitational Saturday morning. Sophomore Allison Lones (Kathleen, Ga.) paced the Bobcats yet again and finished ninth overall with a time of 24:44.
This is the fifth straight race that Lones has led the Bobcats and 24:44 is her second best time this season running the 6K distance. Freshman Rebecca Shane (Lilburn, Ga.) finished 17th overall with a time of 26:00. Sophomore Ashton Passino (Alpharetta, Ga.) finished the race at 26:11 in 21st place, just two seconds ahead of teammate Madeline McCane (McDonough, Ga.), who finished in 22nd place. This is McCane's first race during the 2011-12 season placing in the top-five for GC.
Victoria Dobson (New Hamburg, Ontario) finished in the fifth spot for GC and 24th overall, running the 6K race with a time of 26:29. The Bobcats finished in third place with 72 points. Georgia State University finished in the top spot with 15 points and Augusta State took second with 61 points.
The Bobcats' next race will be the all-important Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Championships in Aiken, S.C. hosted by PBC foe USC Aiken Oct. 22.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/BobcatSports and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute spports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.


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+myConnections: Engage your community - connect to news, events and information you care about. View more information...
5 points
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Charles Currie
View your community's facilities and features online with the new Facilities Module.
Personalize your online experience to stay up-to-date on news, events and other information.
71 W. High Street Pottstown, PA 19464
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Download Doriss Girls Family
Doriss Girls Family
Doriss Girls Family Font
Dorriss girls were the dancing troop at the Moulin Rouge. I had the idea for this font while trying to come up with an alternative to beveling. I thought it would be interesting to create this sort of stepped effect as I've never really seen this treatment on a font before.
Then my need to create chaos shows up again with Doriss Girls informal. A hand drawn take on the forms. This seemed like it would appear on an old art nouveau poster by the great Toulouse Lautrec, so there you have the genesis of this font.
I've been somewhat compelled by the letterforms so I may expand and create a more normal version of this font someday with a range of weights. That would be the bees knees.


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Page content
The Upholstery Conservation Laboratory
Upholstery Conservation
The Upholstery Conservation Laboratory provides historically accurate upholstery for the Foundation's collection of furniture. However, doing so is seldom as simple as it might seem. The frames of upholstered furniture often retain information about the original fabric that was used, the number of times the item was upholstered, and the way in which the upholstery was attached, even after the piece has been reupholstered. The clues can be small (tiny pieces of fabric caught in tack holes) or large (the patterns that nail holes make as they sweep across the piece). To reupholster the item using traditional upholstery techniques would require that new nails be driven into the frame. This would confuse the original nail evidence and also weaken the wooden structure. The challenge for the lab is to save the original evidence while still presenting the piece as it once would have looked.
To that end, Colonial Williamsburg's conservators have developed a non-intrusive upholstery system based on a series of removable copper caps covered with acrylic foam to which show cloth is attached. The fabric covering looks as it should but no harm is done to the evidence beneath. This technique can be used for either bare frames or for items that retain their original upholstery. Creating these non-intrusive systems can take substantially longer than the traditional upholstery technique, but so much more is preserved for the future.


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Fig Anise Bread
Recently a customer asked me to bake a fig anise bread. She had bought a loaf from Standard Baking in Portland Maine, and loved it, but doesn't get up there often. At first I was a little reluctant to go down this road, as I thought figs? anise? really? but then decided to see what I could come up with. A search on TFL revealed that there was just such a bread in Nancy Silverton's La Brea book. As this has been on my list forever, I bought a copy, procured some dried black mission figs and anise seed, and put it together. This morning I baked the loaf, cooled it and then dug in. I have to say this bread is incredibly delicious. The anise helps instead of hurts as I had worried. The figs are absolutely decadent. Sometimes it is good to listen to people (not always of course.)
The crust of this bread comes out almost black. Fortunately Nancy Silverton warns of this, or I would have thought I was burning the bread after only 30 minutes. The only bread I've seen darker than this is Syd's squid ink bread. But I didn't use any of that.
I must have read this somewhere on TFL as I'm hardly a gourmand, but this bread is just made to go with goat cheese. What a treat.
So two questions. Has anyone been to Standard Baking? (Karin?) Any chance that this is the same bread as they sell there? What is your favorite bread from Silverton's book? I can't wait to try something else.


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|Florence Immersion, Album 5
The tiny place is in the lower floor of a Renaissance-era building with just 10 tables. Dinners can look right into the kitchen. Look at the table on the right at the mounds of noodles - all right beside the door for diners' inspection when entering!


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A Minnesota man who did not have a license to buy and sell firearms is accused of purchasing dozens of assault rifles at local stores, then illegally reselling them online at a profit — to apparently help pay for his mother's mortgage and veterinary bills for a dog, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The man has not been charged. But federal prosecutors said they are seeking the forfeiture of 60 assault rifles that were seized from his residences in October. Prosecutors said the man bought at least 81 assault rifles over three months, and re-sold 25 of them through a firearms auction website.
The man "did this without obtaining a license to deal firearms, and he continued this conduct after ATF advised him of applicable regulations that required licensure," the court documents said.
The investigation began after Mills Fleet Farm contacted the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to report that the man had been making repeated purchases of assault rifles at various store locations, including Blaine, Brooklyn Park and Carver.
ATF spokesman Robert Schmidt said he could not provide information about the case at this time.
Generally speaking, Schmidt said, it's not illegal for a gun owner to sell an individual firearm without a license, but it is against the law to "engage in the business" of dealing guns without a federal firearms license.
Schmidt said the federal firearms licenses are important for many reasons. Among them, they help the ATF regulate the industry, and they give dealers access to buyer information — so a dealer knows he is selling a gun to someone who may legally own it.
When it comes to online purchases, the seller ships the gun to a licensed dealer near the buyer's location, which would then conduct the transaction and take care of the necessary paperwork.
According to court documents in this case, an undercover ATF agent agreed to purchase a semi-automatic rifle that the man had bought at Mills Fleet Farm for about $579, including tax, but was selling online for a base price of $825.
The man changed his mind about the sale, saying that since the buyer was in Minnesota, he could purchase the gun at Mills Fleet Farm at a cheaper price. All of the man's other online sales from August through October were to buyers in other states, prosecutors said.
On the day the man cancelled the sale, the ATF got two calls from someone whom they believed to be this man, asking if he would need a federal firearms license to sell weapons online.
When asked if he was trying to make a profit, the man said: "I don't mean to make a profit, but I am," court documents said. After the ATF advised that he'd need a license, the man sold and shipped two rifles to another undercover agent at a Las Vegas address, making a profit on each weapon.
Days later, agents searched his houses and found 56 assault rifles, binders with records of fire sales, gun tags, and other items at his Lake Crystal home. They also found three rifles at his home in Crystal, and the man turned over another rifle from his car.
Follow Amy Forliti on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amyforliti


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Millions of Americans use deductions to lighten their tax burden. But one lesson of Wednesday night's debate between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is that those deductions might be in jeopardy – no matter who wins the election.
They disagree on income tax rates, but one policy on which Obama and Romney agree is limiting the use of tax deductions and other tax preferences. And 2013 seems to be shaping up as the first chance for fundamental tax reform since 1986.
The chairmen of the two congressional tax writing committees will be as important in shaping that reform as the president will be. If Republicans keep control of the House and Democrats retain control of the Senate, those two chairmen will be Rep. Dave Camp, R- Mich., and Sen. Max Baucus, D Mont.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012.
In a preview of tax reform, Baucus said in a speech last June, "Every tax provision needs to prove it has a tangible benefit to our economy or society. If not, it doesn't belong in the tax code."
That "tangible benefit" is the crux of the debate over deductions and other tax preferences.
Congress wouldn't have created each deduction if it didn't have a specific policy purpose it was pursuing. And Washington wouldn't be filled with tax lobbyists and other advocates if companies, industries, and non-profit organizations didn't know they needed to defend their specific tax break and argue that it has a tangible benefit.
If proof were needed of the tenacity of interest groups in defending tax preferences, consider what happened in 2009 when Obama proposed in his first budget plan to limit the use of tax deductions. The interest groups (the non-profit sector, the home builders, etc.) were able to defeat Obama's attempt in 2009, and they might be able to scuttle any similar proposal in 2013.
For now, there's only the most general agreement between Romney and Obama – both men say they want to limit the use of deductions and other tax preferences.
While Romney hasn't committed himself to a specific plan to limit deductions, Obama has offered a detailed plan as part of each of his budget proposals since he became president. The Democratic incumbent proposes to limit the tax benefit of deductions for taxpayers with taxable income in excess of about $213,000 for individuals and $266,000 for couples who file joint tax returns.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, weighs in on the Romney tax plans and the state of the economy.
The staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation illustrated how Obama's limitation would work: Assume a taxpayer in the 36 percent tax bracket for 2013 makes a $10,000 contribution to a charitable group. Under current law, the $10,000 contribution results in a $3,600 tax savings. But under the Obama proposal, the same $10,000 contribution by the same taxpayer would result in a tax savings of only $2,800, thus forcing him or her to pay $800 more in income taxes.
As for Romney, "His point is first and foremost, 'I want to cut (income tax) rates and then I'm going to pay for it by getting rid of other things in the tax code – reducing the value of itemized deductions, getting rid of some exclusions – in order to bring enough revenue in to fill the hole that I dug with (income tax) rate cuts,'" said Roberton Williams, a tax analyst at the Tax Policy Center in Washington.
In not offering specifics on his plan to limit deductions and other tax breaks, Romney likened himself to Ronald Reagan, who when he ran for president in 1984, "laid out the principles that he was going to foster," as Romney said, but didn't provide detailed plan. But Reagan did offer a specific tax reform proposal in early 1985.
Romney Campaign Senior Adviser Ed Gillespie joins Morning Joe to discuss some of the nuts and bolts of Romney's plans for tax reform. Which loopholes would Romney close as president?
Romney said in Wednesday night's debate, "I'm going to work together with Congress to say, OK, what – what are the various ways we could bring down deductions, for instance? One way, for instance, would be to have a single number. Make up a number, $25,000, $50,000. Anybody can have deductions up to that amount. And then that number disappears for high-income people."
Romney has proposed to scrap the Alternative Minimum Tax – the parallel tax system that limits the ability of higher-income people to use deductions to lower their tax liability. But he indicated in Wednesday night's debate that he'd hit higher-income people perhaps even harder than the AMT does by denying them deductions entirely.
Romney has now floated three different possible limits on deductions – $17,000, $25,000 and $50,000 – and while also saying he would entirely eliminate tax deductions for some upper-income people.
To get a feel for how a $25,000 limit on deductions might affect taxpayers, consider that for those who take itemized deductions the average amount deducted last year was $25,769, according to the Tax Policy Center.
But the average is heavily skewed by the fact that high-income taxpayers take such large deductions. For those in the top one percent of the income distribution, the average mount deducted in 2011 was more than $173,000.
The vast majority of taxpayers have deductions which total less than $20,000. For itemizers in the middle of the income distribution the average amount deducted is about $16,000.
GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney steps out of turn to point out errors he feels President Barack Obama made in describing his tax plan.
Of course for many taxpayers none of this is directly relevant to their own tax situation since two-thirds of taxpayers take the standard deduction and do not itemize. But they too would be affected by a change in tax policy that, for example, caused Americans to give less money to private schools, colleges, museums, and charities.
Diana Aviv, president of Independent Sector, a nonpartisan coalition of nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs, said if under a Romney plan, deductions were limited to $17,000 or $25,000 and if much of what the taxpayer was deducting was mortgage interest and state and local taxes, then charitable deductions might be squeezed out.
"The charitable deduction doesn't benefit the donor – the person of means – it benefits the charity," she said. "So if the charitable deduction is clustered with these other tax deductions (such as the mortgage interest deduction) that actually do benefit the individual, there is no question in our mind that the charitable deduction will be the loser."
Aviv said for people who itemize, how much money they give to charity "is entirely correlated with the tax incentive … There's a mountain of evidence to show that the charitable tax incentive adds to the volume that people give. So we will see massive cuts in the level of giving to charitable organizations" if Congress limits deductions.


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Amid the hustle and bustle of planting season, Kristin Gall of New Cambria, Mo., was thrilled to find a strong, reliable and inexpensive way to replace the hydraulic hoses that string through his planter frame. He raises corn, soybeans, cattle and a few hogs in north central Missouri and does most of the repair work on his equipment himself.
"When a hydraulic hose inside the tongue of my planter blew, I had to find a way to thread a new hose inside the cramped, Y-shaped tongue. After a couple of failed attempts, I took a National Pipe Thread (NPT) pipe nipple that matched the size of the hose, cut it in half and MIG welded a chain link to one end of each piece, creating a U-joint that would allow the hoses to flex around the sharp corners. To protect the open hose from the dirt and dust in the frame, I filled the U-joint nipple with weld."
Secure Connection
Sometimes I have trouble getting a secure connection when connecting implement hydraulic hoses to my tractor. I took a piece of pipe that would mate to the shoulder of the male coupling or the fitting and cut it open. Then I welded the cut pipe to a length of ¾" shaft. Now, I align the couplings and tap the shaft lightly to make a secure connection.
John Mohr
Prosser, Wash.
Share your $100 idea!
Labeled and Ready to Recharge
It's a hassle to not be able to find the correct charging cord or battery cradle for your battery-powered tools. I built a simple charging station for all of my rechargeable items: spotlights, drills, screwdrivers, etc. I installed a shelf, then attached a gang outlet above it. Each charging cord is
attached, labeled and color-coded to the tool it matches. To keep the cords from tangling, I wrap them with a cable tie.
Tommy Snell
Toomsuba, Miss.


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Each time I make a stitch my hands do it seemingly on their own - it's a repetitive, hypnotic dance they know quite well.
Come this July I will have been knitting only (only?) seven years - and in that time I have worked a countless number of stitches. And whether I am - or my hands are - aware of it, I have come to see it like this: Every stitch is like a tiny meditative prayer - a single instant of my life given physical form by my hands. I could have spent all those instants doing something - anything - else. But instead I chose to put them into making a Something.And oh, the Somethings I have made in those past seven years! Somethings without number, for the loveliest people! It makes my heart glad just to think of it.
It goes on - more Somethings, soon!
The Somethings
6 comments:
- Nicole said...
Beautiful thoughts, thank you for sharing! And sharing your somethings, of course - they are always beautiful. :)
- March 27, 2012 at 3:05 p.m.
- Bonnie said...
YES! You're right! I've been knitting for nearly 6, and I feel so happy to be able to give bits of myself, my time, my talent, to other people through lovely knitted things. Thanks for posting this.
- March 27, 2012 at 3:11 p.m.
- mschoir01 said...
Amen and yes to lovely somethings! Knit on!
- March 27, 2012 at 8:53 p.m.
- elaine said...
happy knitversary!
- March 28, 2012 at 1:32 a.m.
- Little Ol' Liz said...
I follow the ideal that you should only give hand fashioned items to the people who would not only appreciate them, but understand that a piece of you comes with the product.
Best to you always.
- March 28, 2012 at 8:13 p.m.
- Maryse said...
Happy knittaversary! I wish you many many more stitches!
- March 29, 2012 at 11:11 p.m.
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The Thyroid Solution Diet by Ridha Arem, MD ($26, Free Press, 2013)
- 2 c dried green or brown lentils, sorted and rinsed
- 2 Tbsp olive or grape seed oil
- ¼ c lemon juice, more to taste
- ½ c chopped parsley
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 c diced cucumber
- 1 c diced tomato
- 1 c diced red onion
- 1 c diced green bell pepper
1. Combine lentils and enough water to cover by 3 inches in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until just tender, about 15 to 17 minutes. Strain.
2. Whisk together oil, lemon juice, parsley, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. Add cucumbers, tomato, onion, and bell pepper. Gently stir in cooled lentils, being careful not to break them apart. Season with additional salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Serve room temperature or chilled.
Be careful not to overcook the lentils so they retain their shape.
Each serving: 290 calories, 17 g protein, 44 g carbohydrates, 21 g fiber (net carbs: 23g), 4 g sugar, 5 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 203 mg sodium.


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It's been a great journey! And it's only just begun.
My wife and I took a situation that was really a kick in the backside and changed into an opportunity.
Back in August, when we lost a big consulting gig, we started thinking about how it sometimes seems like things are going great and then a black cloud moves in and rains on our parade. We talked long into the night about our dreams, where we came from, how far we've come over the years. We talked about our vision of owning our own winery and how that seemed to be just out of reach.
Then one of us remembered how every cloud has a silver lining. We decided then and there to make the situation work for us and not against us.
The wine I had been consulting on was excellent. I knew if I could get some we could use it to shoestring finance our dream. Long story short, my employer, Township 7 , agreed to help us establish the Black Cloud brand until we can spin it off into our own licensed winery operation.
We decided to adopt the Black Cloud name to constantly remind us that adversity makes us stronger and, even if things look bad sometimes, there's always a way to make things better.
In the vineyard, grape vines that have things too easy become insipid and unremarkable. The best fruit undergoes stress and trial.
We hope that our 2006 Pinot Noir exhibits all the character and complexity you'd expect from a hand-crafted, small lot wine. Made from vines that flourished while being tested by the elements.
The labels are on and we are ready to fill orders.
Simply contact us at:
$25 /bottle


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E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, Volume 3
E.J. Brill, 1993 - Islamic civilization - 564 pages
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85 pages matching born in this book
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according afterwards Ahmad al-Dawla al-Din al-Hasan al-Malik Aleppo Allah ancient Arab Arabia army Baghdad Bakr battle became belonged Berber Bibliography born Brockelmann brother built Byzantine cAbd Allah Cairo Caliph called capital celebrated century chief Christian conquest Constantinople Damascus death defeated died district Dozy dynasty east Egypt Egyptian Emir Fatimid Figuig Fikh Gesch Ghazna given Goeje Goldziher governor Greek Hadjdj hammad Hasan Hausa Hawazin Himyar Huart Husain Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khallikan important India inhabitants inscriptions Islam Kadi Khan king kingdom Kitab Kur'an land latter London Maghrib Malik Mecca Medina mentioned Mongol Morgenl mosque Muham Muhammad Muslim Ottoman Paris Pasha period Persian poems poet Prophet province reign rule ruler Shah Shaikh Slane Sultan Syria Tabarl tion took town tradition transl translation tribes troops Tunis Turkish Turks vizier Wiistenfeld Yakut Zeitschr


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Rich wins Strawberry Shortcut 10K, 5K in Glenwood Springs
GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Adam Rich has run on national-championship cross country teams, has run countless races over the course of the year and even makes his home within a short jog of the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. So it would figure that he would have won a combined 10K and 5K race by now, right?
Well, maybe not.
"I've never done this," an exhausted Rich said following his victories in the 10K and 5K during Sunday's 37th-annual Strawberry Shortcut. "I'm not feeling too good right now."
Rich, who was a team member on Western State's NCAA Division II national championship cross country teams in 2004 and 2005, crossed the finish line in the 10K in 32 minutes, 2 seconds. He followed that with a winning time of 16:13 in the 5K, needing plenty of time to recuperate from his back-to-back victories.
"I've done the 10K and 5K double on consecutive days, but never the 10K and then, 45 minutes later, the 5K," Rich said, still breathing hard. "The second one definitely hurt a lot more than the first one."
Rich is in the process of completing the Colorado Runner Racing Series, a year-long competition where runners can compete for prize money through their performances in 5K races throughout the state. Runners must complete six 5K races over the calendar year, and scores are calculated based on where the runner finishes in the race.
The Shortcut was the fifth of six races this year for Rich, who has run in other races like the Frosty's Frozen 5-miler in Littleton on Jan. 18, the Valentine's Day 5K in Denver that was run on Feb. 9, and the Lafayette Quicker Quaker 5K on Jan. 11. His win gave him 100 series points and extended his overall statewide lead in the series.
So there's been a little gap in between his races, but even more of a gap in between when he previously ran in Glenwood in 2006. He'd never had such a short gap between 10K and 5K races, but he made sure that didn't bother him.
"I actually went out a little harder in the 5K so I could give myself a little more of a cushion, just in case," he said, laughing.
Rich beat his nearest competitor, second-place finisher Jordan Chavez (33:58) by nearly two minutes. Chavez is the grandson of former longtime Glenwood Springs High School boys basketball coach Bob Chavez and is a leading candidate to make the U.S. Mountain Running Team this fall. He's also a member of the University of Richmond cross country team.
Rich's winning time of 16:13 in the 5K beat out the second-place time of Jeo Mendez (16:30), a former distance-running standout at Rifle High School.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
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To the editor: In a letter titled, "Is southern charm real?" (May 1 issue of the Beacon) a reader suggests: "If it were decided tomorrow to go back 25 years and never migrate to this beautiful area, then this area would still be picking tobacco and cotton."
Well, you got me there! I can't argue with that statement because I can't find the subject of the first clause and therefore cannot follow the logic. I wasn't picking cotton or tobacco in Brunswick County 25 years ago. I was learning basic sentence structure at Shallotte Middle School.
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A quick update from me – I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm back in cyberworld again!!! I've had three hard drives put into my computer since it arrived on my doorstep brand spanking new 11 months ago.
I've had 2 hard drives die within 6 weeks. This last time I sent the whole computer back to Dell – and was without a computer for 3 weeks just to get a new hard drive. Let's just say, after my experience with Dell and their technical support and their laissez faire attitude about defective hard drives ("oh, we've had a lot of issues…) this will be the very last Dell computer we purchase, and we've been loyal (we've bought 5 computers from them). If I have to re-install all of my programs one more time I think I'm going to scream – especially ones with a finite number of installs before you have to call the company for a new install code.
Beyond that – I'm finally through my first trimester and much of the queasiness has passed. BUT, for some crazy reason, I seem to be pregnant with a health nut. I only get nauseous around greasy food and sweets. I told my husband that I'm just not sure this is our offspring ;)
So, I'm going to TRY and get back into the kitchen soon and hope to start posting again NOW that I'm back online.


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ALISO VIEJO – The City Council recognized its outgoing members on Tuesday.
Mayor Don Garcia and Councilman Greg Ficke were honored by the council for their years of service to the city.
Both Garcia and Ficke ran for reelection in November but didn't make it in the top three slots.
Garcia, a lawyer, served as mayor in 2009. He was previously on the city's Design Review Committee and was the neighborhood chairman of an architectural subdivision. Garcia, a veteran, oversaw the city's annual Veterans Appreciation Program. Garcia received 17.4 percent of the votes in the November election.
Ficke, who works in commercial real estate, was on the city's original council when it was incorporated in 2001. He was reelected in 2004 and 2008. He was known for being against the El Toro airport and for his involvement in local organizations such as AYSO, the Boys and Girl Scouts of America, United Way and others. Ficke never served as mayor. He received 18.3 percent of the votes.
New council members Ross Chun and Mike Munzing will be sworn in next month. Chun is a familiar face in Aliso Viejo. He was on the Aliso Viejo Community Association Board of Directors for six years and spent four years on the Planning Commission. Munzing is a small business owner with a background in real estate and mortgage industry.
The swearing in ceremony will take place on Jan. 2, along with appointments to boards and commissions.
Contact the writer: email@example.com


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Files recently released by the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese show that 29 clergy accused of sexual abuse served assignments at local parishes, where some of the alleged child molestation took place.
Of the 29 men who were named, eight were accused of committing sex abuse while assigned to local parishes in Burbank, La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, Montrose and La Crescenta. Of those eight priests, three — Leland Boyer, Lynn Caffoe and John Kohnke — are dead. The other 21 were either not assigned to local churches at the time of the allegation being made, or there were no files listed.
Richard Henry, who served as a priest at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montrose between 1982 and 1986, was sentenced to eight years in prison for molesting four boys whose families attended the church after confessing to psychiatrists, according to the archdiocese records.
One of Henry's victims committed suicide.
Records show the archdiocese paid for extensive therapy at a psychiatric facility, where Henry was diagnosed as a pedophile.
"The kid in me is terrified, but by acknowledging the emotion rather than suppressing it, that and similar feelings are not overpowering," Henry wrote in a letter contained in his file.
The archdiocese posted the personnel files pertaining to 122 priests on its website last week following a Los Angeles County Superior Court order.
The clergy members were named in a 2007 settlement in which the archdiocese agreed to pay $660 million to settle hundreds of sex abuse claims. The documents include more than 10,000 pages of previously confidential personnel files of alleged abusers, documents detailing sex abuse allegations, psychological evaluations, and internal memos between church officials who plotted to keep the information from law enforcement.
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez last month relieved Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of his public duties amid outcry over how he mishandled the sex abuse claims.
Of the 29 priests with ties to the region, two of them served assignments at more than one local parish.
In Pasadena, 10 men held assignments between 1922 and 2004 at St. Andrew Catholic Church, St. Philip the Apostle, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the shuttered St. Luke's Hospital.
Kohnke was arrested in Orange County on suspicion of engaging in sex acts with a 16-year-old boy while he served as priest for St. Luke's in 1974. Los Angeles police also arrested him on suspicion of masturbating in a public bathroom in North Hollywood.
Another eight priests listed in the files served between 1934 and 1985 at Holy Family Catholic Church and Incarnation Catholic Church in Glendale.
One of them, Donald Farmer, was charged in 2003 with molesting four teens in San Bernardino County, according to the files. He denied the allegations in a 2003 letter to Mahony saying they were part of a "well-orchestrated campaign to discredit priests and the Church."
The case was eventually dismissed, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.
While at Holy Family, a woman in 1994 alleged that she too was abused by Farmer from 1967 to 1969. He was defrocked in 1972.
Farmer did not return requests for comments.
Another priest from Holy Family accused of sex abuse, Christian Van Liefde, was unavailable for comment. According to the archdiocese files, he denied allegations by a female student at Holy Family who alleged that he molested her in a car, at her parents' home and at the beach.
In Burbank, five clergy assigned to St. Finbar Parish and St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church — which at the time was Holy Trinity Parish —between 1939 and 1982 are also named.
Four men held duties between 1969 and 2003 at St. Bede the Venerable Church and St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge.
One of them, Leland Boyer, was accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old La Cañada High School boy who had visited St. Bede for help on a project.
In a letter, the boy wrote that Boyer had "begged me not to tell anyone — that it'd ruin him and nobody would believe me anyway. I felt ashamed; was very scared and didn't think anyone would believe me. I've carried it ever since then."
Church officials offered the boy therapy and asked that Boyer's contact with boys be restricted, according to the personnel files.
Lynn Caffoe served as a pastor at St. Bede from 1982 to 1986, where he allegedly encouraged partially nude boys to arouse themselves and then videotaped them.
In a 2004 letter to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — who would later become Pope Benedict XVI — Mahony wrote that Caffoe was "a master at manipulating people's feelings. He is a fugitive from justice and has not had any contact with the Archdiocese since 1993."
But it would be another two years before the Vatican stripped Caffoe of his priesthood.
Christopher Kearney, who was a priest at St. Francis, was accused of molesting a student in 1995 during a wrestling incident. At the time, church officials said Kearney left the school due to health reasons, but he was reassigned to a seminary in Santa Ynez.
Attempts to reach Kearney, who now resides at Franciscan Order Capuchin in San Francisco, were unsuccessful. But his superior, Fr. Matthew G. Elshoff, said in an email that the allegations contained in Kearney's file "speak for themselves."
"The Capuchin Friars of the Western America Province continue to pray for the healing of the victims, their families and our Catholic Church," he said. "We remain strong and ever vigilant in our commitment to protect and honor the youth who are entrusted to our care. For the safety of our students, every representative of our Province who comes into regular contact with children is fingerprinted, and then subjected to a rigorous background check."
Follow Veronica Rocha on Google+ and on Twitter: @VeronicaRochaLA.
Editorial assistant Josh Cox contributed reporting.


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Also known as time off for dependants, this gives all employees the right to take a 'reasonable' amount of time off work to deal with an unforeseen matter or emergency involving a dependant.Outcomes:I work in:Caring for:
It takes strong commitment from board members, senior managers from health & social care, advocacy groups, voluntary groups and carers to fully involve carers - it's not the easy option.Outcomes:I work in:
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Discussions in Contemporary Culture, Issue 2
Hal Foster
Bay Press, 1988 - Aesthetics, Modern - 135 pages
Texts and transcripts from a series of weekly discussions sponsored by the Dia Art Foundation.
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Black popular cultureUser Review - Not Available - Book Verdict
In this collection, 41 international authors address the relation of fiction and writing to the multicultural aspects of such topics as exile, feminism, and oppression. The book consists partly of the ... Read full review
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Alpers alternative argue art of describing artists beat bodv body Buci-Glucksmann Cambridge camera obscura Cartesian perspectivalism Ch'an concept construction critique cultural decentering Dejeuner Descartes Dia Art Foundation discourse discussion dominant Dutch art erotic example fantasy figure film Foucault frame Fredric Jameson Freud gaze grid Gustav Fechner Hal Foster Helmholtz historical Ibid Jacqueline Rose Jacques Lacan Jameson jects Jonathan Crary Lvotard Martin Jay matrix Merleau-Ponty modern modernist nerve nineteenth century Nishida Nishitani Norman Bryson notion object observer optical Pablo Picasso painting paranoid perception perspectivalist perspective philosophy Picasso political position postmodern produced psychic psychoanalysis pulse question radical relation Renaissance representation rhvthm Rosalind Krauss Sartre and Lacan Sartre's scopic regime seems sense sight sion social specific sunyata techniques theory tion tive tradition trans unconscious Universitv University verv viewer visual experience visual field visual space vour Western zootrope


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Best book on Canadian coins
General discussions on conservation and classification.
3 posts • Page 1 of 1
Best book on Canadian coins
I have collected US coins for over 50 years but am new to Canadian coins. I'd like to get a book to begin to learn more. Any recommendations as to the best book on Canadian coins?
- Posts: 607
- Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:41 am
- Location: Golden Horseshoe, ONT
Re: Best book on Canadian coins
You can't go wrong with the annual Charlton book for circulating coinage. The Haxby and Whitmen books are also very good. Join the Canadian Numismatic Assoc and get the CN Journal every month with the membership.. Also get the Canadian Coin News.... subscribe.
Bill in Burl
Re: Best book on Canadian coins
Thank you very much.
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