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With the tremendous growth in technology, individual investors have nearly the same access to financial information, products, and services that an institution has.  Sounds great, right?  Well, there's a problem: How do you know what's the best product to buy? What's the best investment strategy?  Should you invest in a deductible IRA, a Roth IRA, or an education IRA?

Financenter, based in Tucson Ariz., has a variety of investment calculators that help you find the best strategies, as well as the best investment deals.  The calculators help you with such things as retirement, credit cards, insurance, auto loans, home loans, budgeting, and investments. My favorite one is aptly titled:  "What will it take to become a millionaire?" 

I had an opportunity to interview the founder and CEO of Financenter, Sherri Neasham.

Questions & Answers:

:  What gave you the idea for this company? 

:  My background is in finance, not computer science.  Over the years, I have been consulting for mortgage brokers, banks, and other financial institutions.  It was actually my brother who said I should do something on the Net.  This was in late 1994. 

:  Back in 1994, did you think the Net would get so big, so fast?

:  It took me by surprise.  But I'm not complaining.

:  How did you finance your company?

:  I used my own money to get my company off the ground.  So far, we have yet to use outside capital.  Although, we have a commitment from an angel who is willing to inject cash into the company.  But we haven't run out of cash. 

:  Often an angel is also a mentor.  Is that the case here?

:  Absolutely.  He has provided much help for my company. 

:  How important are mentors?

:  Very important. However, you can realistically only have a few mentors.  I have about three.  To have more would likely mean I'm spending too much time talking to people instead of taking action. 

On the Net, action is critical. You really don't know until you try it. There's a lot of trial and error. 

For example, in late 1995, we experimented with the idea of providing a way for consumers to obtain mortgage loans online.  This was a radical idea. There was not much research on the subject.  We didn't know if people would be confident. 

The only way we could find out was by taking action. 

:  Your company is actually profitable.

:  That's right. 

:  What steps have you taken to accomplish this?

:  Since we are on the Net, we can have very low overhead.  However, if we were a traditional financial institution -- such as a brokerage, bank, and so on -- this would not be the case. 

The other factor is we have something people want.  People want a way to make good financial decisions.  We also cater to those who are in the do-it-yourself category and do not want pressure from sales people. Finally, we are able to provide the best rates nationwide on financial products.

Interestingly enough, we have zero advertising costs.  Our model is syndicated selling.  In other words, we contact various Websites, such as for banks, mutual funds, and other financial institutions, then license our calculators to them. 

:  Besides syndicated selling, are there other revenue sources?

:  A major area is providing financial services.  You can, for instance, get an online credit report and a home appraisal from our site. Another great service is to be able to have a chat session with a Certified Financial Planner.

We have a real estate broker referral service.  So, if you want to buy a house, you can submit a form and we can find a broker near you.  The broker also must meet certain requirements.  The broker must have five or more years of full-time experience and has earned one or more professional or education designations. 

The way we make money is by getting a referral fee.  But we do not take the whole fee.  In fact, we give much of it back to the customer.  It's a pretty novel concept.  Customers always get a thrill when they get a check in the mail for $1,000.

:  Java has taken the tech market by storm.  Are you using it?

:  We are developing a product in Java. Basically, it is an enhanced asset allocation program. That is, the user will input a variety of personal information.  For example, the user might state that he will not play the lotto, or is not comfortable if the market goes down by 10 percent.  In other words, we have questions that help determine a user's risk profile.  Next, the program will run through a myriad scenarios, which are based on economic data going back to 1950.

We are also in the early stages of developing a financial planning system. We are likely to use Java for it.  The financial planning system will look at the entire life cycle of a person. 

But Java has problems.  It can be a pain in the neck.  In fact, Java is not always compatible between the different browsers.

:  What's the makeup of the employees of the company?

:  Right now, about 75 percent are technical.  The reason is that we have been developing a large number of calculators.  But, now our next step is to hire more marketing people.

:  Do you have your own server?

:  No.  We outsource this.  A main reason is there are many good hosting companies who have the latest technologies. Also, I rather have my company focus on developing financial calculators, not creating Web servers.

:  How long, on average, does it take to create a calculator?

:  It depends.  For complex calculators, it can take six months or more.  This was the case with our retirement calculator.  But some calculators are not difficult and may only take several days to create.

:  Do you do any custom projects?

:  We try to stay away from this.  We like to consider ourselves manufacturers, not tailors. 

But this does not mean we do not listen to the customer.  Just the opposite.  We listen very closely and try to make changes as fast as possible. 

We are coming out with a new calculator that is programmable.  This, in a sense, will allow for extensive customization of the interface of the calculator.

:  What calculators are you working on?

:  With the new tax legislation passed by Congress this year, we are coming out with the Roth-IRA calculator.  We are also coming out with a relocation calculator.  For example, suppose you get a job offer, but you must move to another state.  This calculator will attempt to show if it makes sense to change jobs.

:  Who are your competitors?

:  We have lots of them.  Perhaps our biggest one is Intuit, the creator of Quicken. 

But we feel we have some advantages.  First of all, our tools are geared for making decisions, not keeping track of checking balances.  A great example is our relocation calculator.

Our business model is different.  We rely on syndicated selling, whereas Intuit sells directly to the consumer.

Also, because we are small, we are able to move quickly. 

:  Based on your experience, have you seen more and more people buying financial services online?

:  Definitely. Here are some stats.  From October 1996 to July 1997, the requests for loans from our site has increased by 184 percent. As for auto purchases, this has increased by 380 percent.

:  Your site is very easy to use and navigate.  What are some of the strategies you use to make a great financial Website?  What are the problems many finance Websites have?

:  The site must load quickly.  The longer the wait, the higher the likelihood the visitor will go elsewhere.  The site must be clean and have few distractions. 

Very important is to provide only the important information.   Finance is not easy.  It can be very intimidating.  Stay away from the jargon. 

Also, don't have sales pitches.  This tends to scare away people. 

Finally, don't give too many choices.  This can confuse people. 

:  Where do you see your company in five years?

:  That's a long time.  We instead like to look at the next three years.  Our goal is not necessarily to do an IPO.  Rather, our goal is to become the Costco of financial services.  That is, we want to provide high quality at great prices.  With our site, I want people to find the best deals and to execute decisions efficiently.  In a way, we are giving people legal inside information.  We are giving them the power to save money.