WIN Business GermiNATION, Inc.^sm is a unique business concept that will change the way American's do business. WIN^sm is the brain child of founder and Chief Excellence Officer, Virginia Lorimor, a magna cum laud alumnus of USC and CPA with nearly 20 years of experience in accounting, finance and business management in Fortune 100 companies including PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Disney, KB Home, and Lennar Homes.

We all know running an organization is no easy task, let alone starting one from scratch.  Business owners are working 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, and failing at a rate of 80%-90%. CPA run businesses however, succeed at rate of over 98%. Generally business owners neglect or put off performing certain critical functions due to time constraints, misinformation, or lack of expertise.

Setting up accurate accounting records, creating business plans, obtaining proper insurances, setting up legal structure and protection...The novice owner thinks they can save money by Doing-It-Yourself and it ultimately costs them everything. WithWIN^sm we CYA - Cover Your Assets!

Source: http://pilgrimonthe405.podbean.com/2010/12/15/pilgrim-talks-tim-lester-and-keith-pomerleau-virginia-lorimor/

Will commune jumpstart new businesses?

April 27th, 2010, 5:00 am · 2 Comments · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist
CPA Virginia Lorimor, CEO of WIN Opportunities Inc. in Irvine has launched what she hopes will be the first of a chain of business communes for startups.

WIN Business GermiNATION Inc., 220 Technology Drive, Suite 110, is a combination business incubator, virtual executive suite and commune.
The center will have a maximum 40 startups called “germs”  — many of them home-based but in need of meeting space and/or office services — who are in noncompeting industries. They will serve as each other’s clients for various services and band together to get discounts on purchases such as health insurance. WIN Opportunities serves as a CFO for tenants, reviewing their finances monthly and holding them accountable.

Members won’t have to give up a big chunk of equity as they would in a for-profit incubator. And they won’t have to pay extra every time they use the copier or conference room.
Lorimor’s long-range plan is to have a center near every major U.S. airport and then go international “like Embassy Suites,” she says. She has already signed the lease for her second center in Long Beach.

The idea came from Lorimor’s experience helping other companies as an accountant. She found she was able to bring significant success to businesses with more than five employees but was less successful with startups with five or fewer employees.

One night she watched a PBS special about more people moving to communes, where they shared resources and skills. Lorimor thought, “Why can’t the commune model work for small businesses?”

The WIN GermiNATION will have competition.

Most for-profit incubators folded in the dot-com bust and subsequent 2002 recession. But nonprofit incubators are increasing. In Orange County Rancho Santiago Community  College District runs the Digital Media Center incubator. And Calit2 at UCI is opening a new technology business incubator May 20.

In addition, North America has about 4,000 office business centers by such companies as New York-based Synergy Workplaces, which provide virtual office space for startups, sales reps and telecommuters. Click here to read a2008  column I wrote about such centers in Orange County.

Lorimor says her WIN GermiNATION costs less: $750 a month for virtual businesses to $1,250 for a complete office and back office services provided by WIN Opportunities.

Applicants for WIN GermiNATION must submit a resume and go through an interview about their skills and coachability. References will be checked, Lorimor says.

“There’s no contract; just month to month,” she says. “That holds us to a high level of customer service and the startup to meeting goals.”