Having saved up enough money to get your manufacturing business off the ground, you might think that the hardest part of your work is over with. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. This is only the beginning of the project! As many successful entrepreneurs can tell you, good planning is one of the keys to success.
You will need to look first at finding the right business space. Depending on exactly what you are manufacturing, you might have been operating out of your home at first. This option becomes nonviable as the business grows.
You need to determine what kind of equipment your employees will be using to manufacture these goods. Consider how much space those machines will take up, and how much space the employees themselves will need. At this point, you may be tempted to just pull out a piece of paper and begin scribbling figures. That is one way, but a better way is to go to the location with your notebook and a roll of masking tape. Using this, you can plot out exactly how much space is required and where everything should go.
What About Your Power Needs?
Now that you have your business space and your equipment, you will need to think about your power needs. It is easy to neglect this area because most of us don’t use a whole lot of electricity on a day-to-day basis. However, once you begin running a manufacturing plant you will be in a position where everything depends on electricity. If your manufacturing machines (which are probably electrical) have no power, your business is dead in the water.
Remember, every day that your business is closed amounts to lost money. Make sure you hire the best electrical contractor that you can find. Then you can rest easy, knowing that you have effectively dealt with these problems before they arise.
Think About Plumbing, Too
That brings us to the plumbing. Of course, you already know that you will need public bathrooms for your employees. However, you might not have considered all the issues. You will need pipes and other plumbing hardware that is a little more heavy duty than the standard pipes and fittings that are used in most homes. Therefore, you need to find a good plumber who can install what you need at a reasonable cost.
Learn the Applicable Laws
You must also do some serious research on your local laws and codes. There are certain laws and building codes that only apply to business owners. Moreover, there are some that apply only to manufacturing businesses.
If your kind of business is considered “dirty,” or is otherwise considered to be persona non grata, you should consider another location to avoid regulatory hassles. If people do not want your plant in their area, they will find ways to make your life difficult. Who needs the trouble?
More to the point, no one wants to deal with hefty fines or jail terms. This is just one reason for why location is so important to a fledgling business like yours.
Establish a Financial Cushion
Before you fling open the doors and tell your employees to get to work, make sure that you have a financial cushion. By this, I mean that you should have a fund set up for dealing with unexpected business expenses. You never know what sorts of issues will arise to interfere with the orderly operation of your facility. However, you already know that fixing those issues will almost certainly require some money.
Give yourself a little bit of breathing room by preparing ahead of time. It will help you sooner or later.
Keep Your Manufacturing Facility Secure
You will also need to consider security. That shed where you keep your industrial chemicals? Someone might rob it so that they can sell the chemicals to a local drug lab. That stockroom full of paper towels and janitorial equipment? If someone is desperate enough, they will steal these things for their own use if nothing else.
From multinationals to startups, many companies now use cloud-based applications to store, manage, and process their data. However, some cloud computing solutions are expensive to own. What’s more, they can be difficult to deploy and unwieldy to use. However, Cloud Management Suite (CMS) is a predictive, powerful, and easy-to-use IT management solution.
CMS comes with automated and advanced features. These features allow companies to manage their entire infrastructure remotely. This means they can more easily keep systems and devices up to date. Plus, they can detect security issues, increase their productivity, and lower costs.
Cloud Management Suite was created by Verismic Software. The company is a globally reputed provider of cloud-based endpoint management and IT management solutions. Notably, here are some of the benefits of using Cloud Management Suite:
1. Remote Management of Network Devices
This feature allows you to manage and control any endpoint, system, and device in your organization from any location. Moreover, you can do this without having to install any third-party remote control agent. What’s more, this tool incorporates the HTML5, the latest version of HTML. Therefore, your team can remotely manage applications and devices that support this markup language from any web browser.
Cloud Management Suite allows you to deploy software updates and security patches across devices in your network efficiently and easily. That’s because it comes with a feature called Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) that detects and rates the vulnerability of your devices. Therefore, you can assess and qualify which devices in your network need urgent attention. Moreover, the predictive and automated patch management feature also comes with custom reporting. As a result, when users deploy software updates and security patches, the solution provides access to detailed reports on these activities.
3. Efficient Software Distribution
With Cloud Management Suite, deploying programs and applications across devices in the network is easy. That’s because programs and applications are distributed instantly from a single location in the cloud. Therefore, you can minimize bandwidth usage. Moreover, this helps you to avoid costly deployment technologies. What’s more, with the inbuilt interactive wizard, users can choose their preferred deployment method. They can also specify how long the task will be carried out.
4. Management of Internet-of-Things Devices
Besides desktop computers, laptops, and servers, Cloud Management Suite can also detect all devices that have an IP address. These can include smart home devices, wireless devices, printers, desk phones, remote control tools, internet gateways, and even coffee machines. The solution, therefore, comes in handy for monitoring and managing Internet-of-Things devices. Importantly, this makes it easy for users to detect any threats or vulnerabilities that could lead to security problems in their network.
5. Easy Access to Historical Data on Configuration Changes and Deployments
People usually make help desk calls when they have a problem with device configurations and software deployments. It is noteworthy, therefore, that Cloud Management Suite gives help desk agents access to all the data and records about your devices. This enables them to understand the cause of any problem. They can track all the software that users installed and uninstalled. Additionally, help desk agents have access to previous re-configurations on devices and software. The tool uses color codes that make it easy for users to distinguish different changes.
6. Advanced Authentication Method
Finally, Cloud Management Suite comes with an advanced identity management method called two-factor authentication. This means that besides the username and password, team members must present additional pieces of information before accessing the network. This information is sent over email, Google authentication, or SMS. Most of all, advanced authentication ensures that only authorized people can access the network.
About the Author
Charles Mburugu is a HubSpot-certified content marketer with more than eight years’ experience in various industries. Check out his portfolio and connect on LinkedIn.
You should always purchase any insurance policy with care. This is especially true in the case of commercial vehicle insurance.
In order to gain access to the most appealing benefits, it can be helpful to know a little about what you’re looking for before you contact an insurance company. Most small business owners appear to be targeting certain benefits over others when it comes to commercial vehicle insurance. Among them are the following:
If you or one of your employees were to have an accident with one your business’s vehicles, you would want immediate service from your insurance company, right?
Imagine, then, discovering that your insurance company has gone bankrupt and can’t provide you with the financial coverage they initially promised you. This could happen if your insurance company only recently entered the industry. Therefore, look to see that the company you’re dealing with has some longevity and stability.
Do some research even before you contact them. Look into various aspects about the company that can give you some clues. For example, how is the firm doing in today’s market? Are they making an actual profit? For how long have they been in businesses? Are there any red flags regarding their stability?
Don’t just rush into anything just because one company presents you with what appears to be a great commercial vehicle insurance deal. If you do, you might end up making an unpleasant mistake.
Powerful Clientele Range
Smart business owners who rely on commercial vehicle insurance generally look into the insurance company’s list of clients before they purchase a policy. If you can see that other successful businesses are clients of the firm, you’ll know that you are considering a reliable option.
Learning about the insurance companies used by Uber or Lyft drivers, for example, can be a great starting point. Those who have entered the ride-sharing business are usually careful with their choice of commercial vehicle insurance. Therefore, the companies they rely on are likely to be reliable and trustworthy.
If you don’t have any acquaintances who can provide you with advice or recommendations on commercial vehicle insurance firms, do a search on the Internet. Look for forums where discussions about commercial vehicle insurance are taking place. You’re bound to learn about the most popular options. This will give you a starting point in your hunt for the best commercial vehicle insurance.
Additionally, read referrals and testimonials. These will simplify your selection process, too.
Customization Opportunities
If you have specific needs about your commercial vehicle insurance coverage, seek a company that offers customization. Some companies on the market have pre-planned packages. Others, however, are characterized by flexibility. These companies will allow you to personalize your policy so that it’s best for your situation.
Therefore, when you are contacting different firms, make this one of the first questions you ask. Regardless of the nature of your business and what you plan to use the vehicle for, you should gain the level of financial protection that matches perfectly to your case. Flexible policy terms and conditions will make this possible.
Customer Service
When you are not familiar with commercial vehicle insurance, it’s important to work with insurers who can make things clearer for you. Importantly, you’ll want someone who will give you the support you need. An insurance company with excellent customer service will always be the better and safer choice.
Notice if the agents you contact are taking their time to fully explain their offers in terms you can actually understand. If they are clear and transparent in their responses and are dedicated to helping you, it’s a sign that they value you as a potential client.
Reasonable Prices
Finally, make sure you spend some time comparing prices. It’s probably not the wisest choice to go for the cheapest option. That’s because the cheapest deal might not give you the level of coverage you need.
However, you can still get a great deal if you consider your options carefully. Different insurance companies might charge different prices for similar benefits. Research is key in this situation. Therefore, get quotes from several firms on the market.
Since commercial vehicle insurance policies are priced higher than policies for individuals, a commercial vehicle insurance policy that comes with a fixed payment plan might be a good choice. At the very least, you should seek any opportunity to lower your costs if you can.
Make the Right Choice for Your Commercial Vehicle Insurance
When it comes to choosing a policy for your business’s commercial vehicle insurance, be sure to do your research. You never know when you’re going to need for your insurance policy to come to the rescue. Therefore, making the right choice is truly important.
If your sales team is underperforming, sales enablement may be the solution. A sales enablement platform streamlines the sales process. However, sales enablement isn’t a catch-all solution. It can’t fix fundamental problems with your team members or management.
It’s important to look at the many internal factors that could be causing your sales team to underperform. You need to identify whether the problem lies with your processes or with even deeper issues. In this article, we look at some of the main problems that cause sales teams to underperform. We also ask whether a sales enablement platform can resolve these problems.
There are a number of reasons why sales teams underperform. Some of these are easier to fix than others. The reason might be critical flaws with your business’s offering. Or maybe it’s a lack of incentive for salespeople or something else. The severity of the reasons will determine how you should address them and if sales enablement can play a part.
Why Sales Organizations Fail
The success of any sales organization is dependent on several factors. Issues with just one of these can cause sales teams to fail. Therefore, it’s critical that you have a solid foundation for your sales team to build on.
In an article for the Harvard Business Review, “Why Sales Organizations Fail,” Steve W. Martin outlines the four sales stages where failure can happen.
The important lesson here is that you need to make sure your organization as a whole is functioning properly. Further, you need to ensure that your processes are set up for success. What’s more, you must do this before you evaluate your sales team’s underperformance.
Why Sales Teams Underperform
There are a number of reasons sales teams underperform. Some are directly related to the failure of the organization as a whole. Still others come down to management, team leads, and individual salespeople themselves.
1. Sales reps are not given the credit they deserve.
Some organizations view sales reps as being at the bottom of the food chain. In reality, however, your sales team plays a vital role. That is, they create business and keep the sales pipeline alive. Without sales, the company will fail.
Unfortunately, sales teams are often forgotten when praise is given in the boardroom. Their contributions aren’t even acknowledged at times. Moreover, some business owners believe that sales team members are expendable.
On the contrary, however, there are significant costs—in terms of time, money, and company morale—that accompany the hiring and training of new people.
2. There is no clear mission.
Selling more of X and even more of Z does not qualify as a mission. This is not a rallying cry that readies your sales team members to tackle the market.
Salespeople are human and they need purpose. That is, they need to have something bigger than themselves that they believe in. This helps them make that vital connection with their prospects. Having a clear vision gives your sales team pride in your business. If you don’t have a coherent mission statement that is unique to your business alone, your sales will be severely affected.
3. There is no standard definition of the term “qualified lead.”
There have been epic battles between marketing and sales teams as to what constitutes a qualified lead. Such disparities within your business aren’t beneficial to the business. When one team—or multiple teams—bring in seemingly qualified leads, the result is wasted time and resources. What ensues are unnecessary debate and conflict between colleagues and numerous lost leads. Salespeople, having failed to meet their targets, are the ones that pay the price. And it’s a vicious cycle, as no one addresses the real issues behind underperformance.
4. Poor compensation plans and weak incentives lead to low morale.
Lack of compensation for successfully closed deals can lead to lower morale and decreased productivity. What’s more, it can significantly affect employee turnover.
As a business, you should be offering your sales team a fair commission bonus for closed sales. Such rewards motivate a salesperson to perform. Plus, they also make them feel that they are contributing something important to the organization.
And, after all, they are. It’s only fair that you recognize and reward their contributions.
However, don’t underestimate the effect of other incentives. Consider different ways you can motivate your sales team that aren’t just monetary in nature.
5. Weak people fill management and leadership roles.
As Jeff Pruitt, Chairman and CEO of Tallwave, puts it: “If your team isn’t selling, the first place to look is in the mirror. Do you have processes in place that put the customer first? Have you implemented a feedback system that gives performance reviews on a regular basis? Could you rattle off the key components to your follow-up strategy? If your sales team is disorganized, confused, and flying by the seat of their collective pants, it’s probably because there wasn’t a solid process in place to begin with.”
A sales team can only work with what they’re given. They must rely on the processes you have in place. If these aren’t working, it is not their responsibility to change them. Of course, salespeople who can recognize that processes don’t work, and who are proactive and intuitive enough to suggest new ways of working, should be rewarded. However, management must be able to acknowledge that change needs to take place.
How Sales Enablement Can Help
Of course, the problems we’ve outlined above are not things that any tool can magically fix. These are fundamental issues with processes and set ways of working.
Sales enablement apps and tools streamline the sales process. They can increase sales. They can help you train new salespeople. And they can improve communication between teams and departments. However, they cannot define a qualified lead for your individual business or write your company mission statement for you.
On the other hand, if you have structured your organization well and are actively supporting your team to make more sales, but you aren’t getting results, sales enablement can help.
Below are some examples of how your team will benefit:
1. Quicker responses to leads’ requests
This may be a familiar situation: Your salesperson is away from his desk meeting a potential client and hoping to close the deal. Everything seems to be going smoothly and they’re about to shake hands. At the last moment, the prospect remembers something and requests more information. If your salesperson doesn’t have this information on hand and they have to start the infamous back and forth, it could delay, if not completely derail, the deal.
Sales enablement platforms allow you to store documents in the cloud for quick and easy retrieval when you need them. You can also save sales materials, such as an expected timeline or pricing information. This will allow you to save time and close deals faster. This way, you can give your potential client the information they ask for immediately. This will leave no excuses for not closing the deal.
2. Presenting information that is conducive to sales
Collateral is crucial for appealing to your prospects. This does not necessarily mean beautiful graphics and impressive numbers. Although these things can help, they may not be what actually works. With printed collateral, or even materials on laptops, this is difficult, if not impossible, to measure.
On the other hand, sales enablement apps give you insight into which materials have the biggest effect on closing deals. This will help you to know what will deliver results.
3. Adapting to last-minute changes
Let’s say your salesperson is waiting to meet a potential client. They notice an email sent, just minutes earlier, stating that a person from their prospect’s legal department will be joining the meeting. What’s more, this person has some questions.
Your salesperson enters panic mode. They can’t access the information quickly and easily, and they certainly can’t edit their presentation.
A sales enablement tool, such as a mobile presentation app, allows your sales team to retrieve such information and add it to their sales presentations. What could have been a deal breaker can easily turn into the one crucial thing that closes the deal. Not only could it clinch the sale, but your employee will also score points for being prepared for any eventuality. This is crucial for client satisfaction.
Wrapping Things Up
If your sales team is underperforming, you should first evaluate your company processes. Are they robust enough to support sales? If your processes are sound, sales enablement could be the advantage you’re missing.
About the Author
Charlotte Powell is head of Design and Marketing at iPresent Ltd. She says, “Driven by beautiful design and a great user experience, iPresent allows me to use my range of creative skills in an open environment. Here everyone is passionate about their field, creating an epic Sales Enablement Platform and making sure our customers are happy.”
Financial institutions have always been magnets for criminal activity. So perhaps it isn’t surprising that they have become one of the most high profile targets for cyber criminals. Cyber attacks on financial institutions are on the rise. Therefore, banks and credit unions of all sizes have committed significant resources to combating cyber attacks. However, this often amounts to simply plugging security gaps as they open up.
However, providing protection that can truly inspire customer confidence relies on more than just confronting issues as they arise. Banks and credit unions need to foster a culture of security. This will allow them to reduce the number of vectors of attack cyber criminals can use. High tech solutions certainly play a role in cyber security. However, there are many ways financial institutions can be proactive about the threat of cyber crime.
As with any security-related issue, awareness is the first step. A cutting edge security system is no help if you forget to lock your door. One of the first things banks and credit unions should do is educate their staff and clientele about best practices. This might involve a short seminar about the protection systems in place that also explains how to avoid common electronic banking risks. It is important to remember that people who are educated about the risks are more likely to avoid them.
2. Protect Communications at the Highest Levels
Increasing cyber security means protecting communications at the highest levels. Moreover, board communications in particular can be a real vulnerability when it comes to data security. Not only do boards of directors deal with high volumes of sensitive information, they often do so remotely. That is, they rely on electronic communication tools to discharge their duties.
Therefore, board portal software providers like Aprio have become popular. This is because they provide an option for boards of directors to share and discuss board information via a secure portal. This makes their communications more secure and also more convenient.
3. Improve Infrastructure
The rate of change in a digital world is truly dizzying. Moreover, cyber criminals often exploit smaller financial institutions. Importantly, these smaller institutions do not have the same capacity for constant upgrading that the larger banks do.
Therefore, regardless of an institution’s size, upgrades to security protections need to be viewed as routine maintenance. As soon as new technologies become available, they need to be implemented. Cyber criminals are experts at exploiting gaps caused by out-of-date software and technology. So don’t let negligence make you a target.
A recent report from SecureList noted that the number of financial targets for cyber criminals in 2017 drastically expanded. What’s more, this pattern has continued into 2018. Cyber criminals are using a broad range of tools and tactics to gain access to financial institutions. Furthermore, there is evidence that there are even cyber attack service providers. These providers set amateur hackers up with everything they need to rob banks, credit unions, and even casinos.
Increased Security Will Require Proactive Steps
Fighting these risks means making a concerted effort to predict new problems before they arise. Moreover, it means creating a culture of security at every level of an organization. Proactive steps like education, improvements to infrastructure, and more secure communication channels can all help in the battle against cyber crime.
Whether you run a restaurant, a book store, a gym, or similar kind of business, success boils down to one thing: getting customers to come back. That might seem simple in theory. However, gaining customer loyalty can be tricky in reality.
In any industry, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of competitors ready and willing to take your business. This is doubly true if you live in a big city. Your business needs to be creative to keep people coming back. One way to do that is by rewarding customer loyalty.
What Is a Customer Loyalty Program?
So what is a customer loyalty program? It is an infrastructure businesses can implement in order to reward their regular customers for bringing in their repeat business. You have no doubt seen punch cards offered by coffee shops and diners. Often, they offer something like one free coffee after the purchase of ten. Other sorts of businesses have adapted this model in unique ways. For example, used book and record stores—even tattoo parlors—have customer loyalty programs.
There Are Different Types of Customer Loyalty Programs
While punch cards are the most common, they are certainly not the only form of customer loyalty program. Certain businesses, like electronics shops and movie theaters, offer customers the opportunity to sign up for special memberships. Customers who sign up can accumulate points toward future purchases.
Discount cards are a similar way of encouraging customers to return. As a matter of fact, there are multiple ways to intrigue customers with these programs. Some businesses charge a small sign-up fee. Others charge month-to-month. Still others offer them free of charge.
The best way to implement a program like this is to offer customers plastic cards. This might seem expensive and logistically complicated. However, in truth it is quite simple.
Companies like Avon Security Products sell plastic card printers. These printers are quite easy to set up and use. Many of them include a camera and high-resolution photo printing. This means you can customize your cards however you’d like.
Why Not Use Email?
Another popular form of customer loyalty program is an email list. Offer customers the opportunity to sign up for weekly or monthly emails. These messages would inform of customers of your business’s various discounts, events, and workplace developments. Offer specials and coupons specifically for those people who have signed up for your email list.
Additionally, allow people on your email list early access to products, before you start advertising them publicly. Since they’ve signed up, they likely have more interest in your product than the average customer anyhow. Another benefit is that it will keep your business in the minds of those people who regularly receive your emails. In other words, they will think first of your business when they need something you offer. What’s more, they will be less likely to visit a competitor.
Show Your Customers Some Love
Why not just practice some random acts of kindness? For instance, give out free cookies or candies at the front counter. Offer 50% off coffee for people who come in during certain hours.
Perhaps you could dedicate a day to “pampering” your regular customers. For example, give out free donuts, special discounts, or coupons for other shops in the neighborhood. Build a reputation as a fun and friendly place that appreciates its customers. The more your customers know that they are going to be rewarded for their business, the more likely they are to return.
America has an interesting relationship with betting and other gambling. Placing bets and playing games of chance is perfectly legal in some states. However, other states have effectively outlawed it.
To understand the current state of play when it comes to the business of betting in America, it’s important to look to the past. Here’s an overview of how attitudes toward and acceptance of gambling have changed over time.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, there was much social and political upheaval across the US. There was very little regulatory framework in place to police betting in the states that made up the union. There were also long-established events on which wagers were regularly placed. Today, these remain a staple of the sports betting marketplace.
Horse racing is the most important of them all. Developed in the 17th century in New York, horse racing eventually spread to many other parts of the nation. Most notably it endures in Kentucky, where the annual derby is today a globally popular event.
Prior to the 20th century, gambling was accepted as an activity in most parts of the country. This was true even if it was not actually supported or legally recognized by state administrators.
The Modern Era
In the five decades following 1900, the world of betting was subjected to more scrutiny, regulation, and criticism in the US. States had accumulated enough influence and power to pass laws restricting or banning betting outright. This robbed the industry of its legitimacy. Therefore, criminal gangs took over and underground bookkeeping became widespread.
Gambling scandals soon rocked the country, most notably in 1919. It was then that the Chicago White Sox reportedly took a collective bribe of $10,000 from a mob boss to throw the World Series. This sealed public opinion against betting as a pastime. However, perhaps the scandal should have been seen as an argument in favor of legalization. That’s because proper regulation could have prevented such issues. Further, legalization of betting could have fostered the building of legitimate businesses and the boosting of local economies.
Nevada took exactly this route when it chose to legalize casinos in 1931. However, the main motivation for the decision was the Great Depression, which had pushed the state to the brink of economic disaster. It took a further two decades for the casino scene to really take off. Thereafter, Las Vegas blossomed as a gambling mecca, thanks to favorable regulations and investments from gangsters.
The Present Predicament
Today, there is no federal law against gambling. However, states still have free rein in terms of the restrictions they place on betting activities. Aside from Hawaii and Utah, legal wagering opportunities are available in every state.
The biggest challenge thrown up in the post-Internet age is how best to regulate online gambling. This remains a contentious issue. Moreover, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 created a lot of confusion for states and players alike.
Thankfully, the legalization of sports betting is now in the works. Plus, there are various places to play online entirely legally. For example, you can now visit a state-approved online casino in New Jersey, Delaware, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
Each year, the direct economic contribution made to the US by the industry is more than $100 billion. As a matter of fact, $8.85 billion in tax was raised in 2015 alone. This might seem like enough of an incentive to encourage more politicians and lawmakers to embrace gambling in states that currently maintain restrictions against it.
A Favorable Future for Betting
Other parts of the US have gradually begun to warm to certain types of gambling. For example, New Hampshire introduced an officially sanctioned lottery in 1963. Another eleven states embraced this type of betting in the following years. This domino effect is a common feature of the business of betting in America. Once one state shows that it is possible to offer gambling opportunities legally, others are quick to adopt similar stances and reap the benefits.
1977 saw the legalization of gambling in Atlantic City. This allowed New Jersey to play host to the East Coast equivalent of Vegas. A decade later, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act gave tribes the right to set up their own casinos on reservation land without the need to adhere to state regulations.
What’s in It for You?
Now and then, you need a break from running your business and the stress of it all. And one way to find some quick relief might be to place a wager on a sports event that strikes your fancy. Depending on where you live, you may or may not be able to do this.
Regardless, the winds of change are blowing. This means that the regulatory environment will eventually become more pro-gambling. Ultimately, wider legalization of betting and other forms of gambling is almost inevitable.
You started your home business a while back, kicking it off with a loan. You needed a shot of capital just to launch. Now, your home business is steadily growing. Once again, however, you need another shot of capital, but your old loan is not yet paid off. Plus, you’ve taken on some new debt as well. Should you consider refinancing?
Generally speaking, loan companies are willing to consolidate your older loan plus your additional debt at lower interest rates than you’re paying now. They are willing to be flexible with their terms and conditions because they understand that you are probably not under extreme pressure.
Is Refinancing Your Business Debt Difficult to Do?
Then, too, loan companies understand that a steadily growing business such as yours is less risky for them than a brand new business would be. The only problem is, you’ll need to convince the lender about yourself and your business. In other words, you’ll need to demonstrate to them that your business is not a credit risk. In so doing, you’re bound to end up with much better terms.
Demonstrate your credibility and the stability of your current business by providing the lender with the following:
Show Proof of Business Income
Show your lender that your business actually makes money and has been doing so for a while. Such proof will include your bank statement, tax returns, and any realistic projections you might have that show the amount of money you expect will flow into your business in the near future.
Develop a Proper Business Plan
You should already have a sound business plan. If you don’t, then draw one up now. Make sure you research it well and compile it in an organized way. Further, it should tell your lender about your company’s goals. In this way, you will reassure your lender that you’ll be able to repay the refinancing loan.
Provide Copies of Statements from Your Current Loan
Some lenders ask for copies of statements from your current business loan. Most will want at least six months worth of statements.
Have Good Credit
You’ll need good credit, both for your business and for yourself personally. Your lender might be lenient if you’ve been late with only a couple of payments here and there, however, especially if you have a good explanation about why you were late. Nonetheless, things will more likely go your way if your credit records are positive and you have a high FICO score.
How the Business Loan Refinancing Process Will Proceed
The business loan refinancing process is a simple and convenient procedure. Just follow the following four simple steps.
1. Make Your Decision About Refinancing Your Business
First, consider your decision from all angles. Can you afford to repay the loan? Will the infusion of capital allow you to expand your business? What are the terms of the loan you have been offered? Is there a prepayment penalty? Are there any hidden charges? Make sure you read all the fine print before you sign any loan papers.
2. Choose the Right Lender
Find the right lender not only by searching on the Internet but also by visiting some firms physically. Determine which one is most suitable for you. For example, you might decide that your best option would be to refinance your home loan with rates from iSelect.
3. Apply for Refinancing
Now is the time to collect all the relevant documentation. Your lender will likely give you a list of the documents you’ll need to present to them.
4. Settle Your Old Loan
When your refinancing loan has been approved, you should begin to make arrangements to settle your old loan with this new one.
Conclusion
Don’t let your home business flounder in the shallows when you could push off from the bank and get back into the swim of things again. Consider refinancing your business debt with a new loan and take your business up to the next level.
Commodity trading can be immensely profitable, especially when it comes to precious metals like gold and silver. These two precious metals have been linked to currency for most of human history. While they have industrial uses (especially silver), their prices often have more to do with speculation, fear trading, and inflation.
There are a few key factors that will determine whether you can turn investing in silver into a profitable endeavor: when you buy this precious metal, when you sell it, and where you sell it. The old saying “buy low and sell high” seems straightforward enough. However, understanding silver price trends and the driving forces behind them will help you understand what high and low prices for this commodity look like. Silver prices move in cycles and investors often make mistakes on either end, selling too low and buying too high. That’s because they’re reacting to price trends and not to their own margins.
Silver, like many commodities including gold, tends to operate in cycles. It can spend periods of time in a bear market, where major silver short sellers like JPMorgan drive down prices despite limited supply and high industrial demand. Then it can abruptly turn and gain traction quickly. Silver cycles both up and down often last several years at a time. These long silver price trends also tend to follow and then outpace gold prices.
#2 Don’t Overstay Your Visit
There’s a complicated relationship between investing and psychology. This relationship is often the downfall of investors. Part of learning how silver cycles work is learning that you can’t always get out at the top. Overstaying your visit in the silver market means that in your ambition to ride out the wave and sell at the last possible moment, you wind up missing out and having a hard time selling for peak prices. The climb to the peak of a cycle often takes longer than the descent.
One strategy that helps you avoid overexposing yourself is recalibrating your portfolio. Decide on a fixed percentage of your portfolio to devote to this metal. As prices rise, you need fewer ounces of silver to make up that part of your portfolio. You sell off the excess and consistently earn profits. If you know where to sell silver online quickly and easily, it’s not hard to recalibrate every so often and take considerable profits with you.
#3 Don’t Sell in a Panic
On the flip side of overstaying your visit is selling at the wrong time. The concept of loss aversion is an idea in behavioral psychology that people are more sensitive to loss than they are to gains. Even if the rest of your portfolio is making gains, you can obsess over one part that’s losing money.
The obsession and the fear of losing your principal means investors either wait too long or not long enough before selling. They can look at a stock (or commodity) that’s on a downward trend and hold out, refusing to take a small loss until it gets even larger (the sunk cost fallacy). Alternatively, they hit the panic button when prices go below their purchase price and they miss out on the bounce back. With a commodity, patience is your saving grace if you miss your break-even point. Unlike stock in a particular company, wealth from precious metals isn’t going anywhere, but its profitability is cyclical. Never sell precious metals in a panic.
#4 Keep Silver’s Volatility in Mind
Silver prices are known for their volatility. This makes it a precious metal that active investors can really capitalize on. However, it’s also one that’s not for the faint of heart. It rises and falls quicker than its more stable cousin, gold. Silver’s volatility also means that it can outpace gold, a precious metal whose trends silver closely follows. When gold is on a consistent upward trend, silver starts to catch up and closes the silver-gold ratio. Many precious metals investors like to invest in a combination of gold and silver for this reason. Or they might even exchange one metal directly for the other. Some online dealers, such as Silver Gold Bull, allow you to trade directly between the two metals without using cash.
#5 Know Where to Sell
Finally, in order to make a profit when trading in silver, you need to know where to sell. As an investor, you should be buying silver bullion: coins, bars, and potentially rounds should make up your holdings. This kind of silver should be sold directly to silver dealers. Cash-for-silver businesses, coin shops, and pawnbrokers won’t give you a fair value for silver bullion coins. Online dealers are more likely to give you the market prices pure silver bullion deserves. Do your research before you sell silver for profit.
Managing and developing a small business requires a lot of work, planning, strategy, and management. As your company grows you’ll need to implement a number of tools along the way. One of the most essential tools your company will need as it begins to grow is an efficient document management system. In other words, you will need a sound method of filing and managing documents. An efficient document management system is an essential ingredient of your company’s success.
Move to having a paperless office. This will save you a great deal of work. Plus, it will also reduce unnecessary paper and filing costs. What’s more, you’ll need fewer employees when you have fewer paper files to maintain. All of these factors will reduce company expenditures. With your savings, you will be able to invest in more powerful and higher-quality printed promotional products.
Ease of Use Is Crucial in any Document Management System
In order to be truly efficient, a document management system must be easy to use. In short, you and your employees need to be able to enter and retrieve any documents when you need them. What’s more, it should be easy to teach new employees to work on your system with little training. In other words, a truly efficient document management system will reduce training time and costs. Additionally, an easier system will allow you to cross train multiple employees so that work can continue seamlessly despite absences.
Flexibility Will Accommodate Growth
Anticipate growth when you’re choosing a document management system. Make sure the system you choose is flexible enough to accommodate and adapt to the growing and changing needs of your company over time. As a matter of fact, not only should you plan on growing at a practical and realistic rate, but also prepare for even more growth. In other words, you’ll want your document management system to be flexible. Flexibility will ease your company’s growth to the next level.
Security Is Imperative
Since your document management system will host some of your company’s most confidential documents, security of your documents is crucial. Therefore, ensure that your document management system provides your company with the level of security you need.
Privacy Levels Safeguard Intellectual Property
As your company grows, more and more people will become part of the system. Therefore, your document management system should include levels of privacy so that only people who are privy to the highest levels of data can view those particular documents.
You’ll also want to be able to modify, delete, or add privacy levels as employees come and go. In other words, you’ll want to be able to accommodate to the changing needs of your business.
A Final Word
To sum things up, an effective document management system will make your day-to-day work life easier. It will directly affect your company on the organizational level. What’s more, an efficient system will be easier on the environment. This alone will give you an opportunity to boost your brand. Therefore, it’s important that you institute an efficient document management system in the beginning. This will help your company grow smoothly and successfully over time.
One Internet advertising model that enjoys great popularity among small businesses is paid search marketing. This is also called pay-per-click, or PPC, advertising.
Many business owners use this system. Those who are not already doing so are seriously considering making the move. Why is that? It’s because this form of paid online advertising easily generates website traffic. What’s more, it also works well with other marketing channels.
One of the most compelling things about PPC advertising is the fact that it provides immediate results. More precisely, within an hour of your placing an ad, people will click on it and visit your website. So now the question is, should you include pay-per-click ads in your marketing mix?
The answer is yes. Keep reading to learn some practical reasons why paid search marketing is so important to your business.
Thanks to target marketing, you can determine which segments of your audience will be most likely to purchase your products or services. This helps you to determine how you should use your resources.
The pay-per-click advertising system enables you to create precisely targeted ads. This allows you to take best advantage of the online advertising space. Put simply, you can reach consumers in a more effective way.
For example, when people search for running shoes online, they generally enter the key word “running shoes” into their browser window. Instantly, they see an ad for running shoes. Therefore, if you have access to data such as demographics, location, keyword usage, or time of the day, you can design the perfect ad.
With this Internet advertising model, you can actually learn more about your customers. By checking the average time to conversion, you will gain real insight into your target audience. Imagine what you can do with your new-found knowledge!
Spend as Much as You Like on Paid Search Marketing
Set your budget for paid search marketing according to your needs. But first, you’ll need to identify your goals.
For instance, if you want to attract more leads, then calculate what you need for lead generation. Make your best guess as to how many clicks your PPC ads will receive in a day. To arrive at your best guesstimate, experts at Lilo strongly recommend taking your background into account.
Even if you are working with a limited budget, you can expect to experience impressive results with paid search marketing, especially if you make the quality of your ads a high priority. Additionally, your success will depend upon how competitive your industry is and the keywords you choose. However, if you keep your budget for paid search marketing too low, you will risk achieving only a small number of clicks.
Use Paid Search Marketing to See if Your Product or Service Sells
After having made the necessary adjustments to your product or service, it is time to see whether or not there is a market for it. The fastest way to find out the truth is to run a PPC campaign. Start your campaign and measure the results.
Performing such a test might not even cost you a thing. That’s because you only have to pay if someone clicks on the ad. Besides, if you are looking to establish a long-term online presence, any money that you spend is well worth it.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your products and services are good enough without doing a test such as this one. You might be surprised to find out that customers do not feel the same way as you do about your products and services. Learn the truth by putting your message in front of your audience with paid search marketing. Then see what happens.
Whether for business or for personal reasons, budgeting your money shows a sense of responsibility for putting your finances on the right track. But if you feel you need a little help, check out the budgeting apps we describe in this post. Any one of them will empower you to manage your finances more easily.
Budgeting will help you to understand your current expenses and forecast future ones. Therefore, every business should go through this critical process.
To get started, simply download one of the budgeting apps we discuss here. They’re all created by top financial app development companies. And they will help you to make smarter decisions on the go, because they will give you flexibility with your budget. In other words, you’ll be able to adjust your expenses and revenue using real-time data.
With its more than 20 million users, Mint is one of the more popular budgeting apps available today. Users love its accurate and instant calculations. What’s more, this app will track all of your financial operations and offer valuable advice, too, so you can manage your money more easily. Plus, iPhone or Android users can download this app for free. Additionally, iPhone users can synchronize the app with Apple Watch as well.
Features
Create budgets and track investments quickly and easily
Get real-time access to reports and other information
Instant alerts
Budget for as many categories as you like
Works well with variable expenses
Generates customizable reports
Provides quick analysis
Secure access
Data encrypted
Intuitive features and powerful results
Personalized tips and advice
Makes it easy to track your credit score
Gives you real-time results
Free to download
A study from a top research company points out that end user needs are a key factor affecting mobile app development. Therefore, app developers need to keep users in mind while they are designing their apps.
Judging by the features and functionalities of the Mint app, this app appears to be driven by this logic. For example, just a few taps allow its users to perform various functionalities with regard to their finances. What’s more, the Mint app is an absolutely free budget planner that will walk with you wherever you go.
“Managing your budget does not have to be stressful,” says Jesse Mecham in his book, You Need a Budget.
The YNAB app is an award-winning financial and budgeting app that helps you gain financial peace, control, and stability. Remarkably, PCWorld listed this app under its editor’s choice list. In their notable review they note that the app is more than a budgeting tool. That’s because it can also enable users to improve all of their money habits.
Features
A complete budgeting app
Access to your real-time info
Easily syncs all your bank accounts
Real-time access to data
Quick sharing
Detailed spend report
Advice on trends
Debt Paydown tool
Simple goal tracking
All-time support
Free trial for a specific period
As the name suggests, the app lets you plan a budget with the finances you have and those that you may acquire. Further, the app has some of the best features to help you set a balance between your earnings and your spending. In other words, the app helps you to be proactive instead of reactive.
“Instead of spending more, spend better,” said one financial advisor. YNAB is an app that will help you to accomplish this goal. Along with helping you to create a proper budget, the app guides, educates, and coaches you to manage your money in the best way by keeping your income in consideration.
Budgeting is boring no more. That’s because PocketGuard makes money management easier than ever. This app acts as an investment advisor, too, one that you can easily trust. With PocketGuard, you will control your money, your bills, and your budget on your phone. What’s more, you will do so anywhere and at any time.
Features
Puts your budget on autopilot
Personalized budget based on your income, bills and goals
Connect with your credit cards and other investments
Sync with your existing loans
See all your finances in one place
Instantly tracks each of your transaction and spend
“In-my-pocket” facility allows you to understand your limit to spend
Advice to improve your financial health
Secured
This app will sync your bank accounts, loans, credit cards, and other investments. What’s more, it will track all your bills and subscriptions. Plus, it will track your income, too. Then, it will automatically suggest to you a budget based on your spending patterns, and it will alert you to unwanted risks. Such features make this app a standout when it’s compared with other apps.
Conclusion
Mobile apps are transforming many aspects of modern life, and the financial sector is no exception. This transformation is driving a strong move toward self-service and improved functionalities.
Budgeting apps such as the ones discussed in this article will help you to manage your finances better. Plus, many of them are free to download.
In this digital age, a well designed mobile financial planner, such as these budgeting apps, can add a lot of value and help you to stick to the process of managing your money well.
About the Author
Meenakshi Krishnan is a content consultant. A techie at heart, Meenakshi is passionate about the start-up ecosystem, entrepreneurship, the latest tech innovations, and all that makes this digital world. When she is not writing, she loves to read, cook, and paint.
It is vital that, alongside marketing your product or service, you also deliver your brand message to your target audience. Ultimately this will help you to achieve your goals and create a loyal following of returning customers.
To understand the best way to deliver this message there are a few things you need to do first…
Determine what your brand message is
First things first, you need to determine your brand message – this will run throughout the marketing content – which is why it is so important to get it right before you do anything else. This message shouldn’t be pushing the product or service but rather the benefit and value of it to the customer.
This message will help people relate to your brand. It is what will inspire, motivate and persuade them to invest in your product. Ultimately, it will make them want to buy from you.
If you are struggling to work out your brand message, start by considering the pain points – the specific problems your customers would be experiencing – and how your product or service can solve this.
You also want to make sure that this message is unique and sets you apart from your competitors.
Work out exactly who your customers are…
If you haven’t already, it would be in your best interest to have a very clear understanding of who your target audience are. You’ve discovered the pain points – which will help you find the people who have these.
You also know your product so you’ll have an idea of who your audience are already. But, it is important to be strategic about this so you are directing your efforts at the right people. If you aren’t, you won’t drive traffic or sales.
You can use ComScore, Facebook Insights and Global Web Index to pull together a comprehensive profile of your audience. Now, use this information alongside your initiative and knowledge of the industry to create personas. These represent your core customers and provide you with someone to keep in mind to help you inform ideas.
… And the best ways to target them
During your research you will also discover how to target your specific audience. The above tools will give you valuable information such as where people discover your brand, how they engage with it and what they are looking for in a brand.
This will also enable you to look at your competitors who are targeting the same audience and see what content works well for them (and what doesn’t).
How to deliver your brand message
Now you know exactly what your brand message is, who you are targeting and how to target them – you need to consider how you are going to deliver the message.
What you need to do is create a range of engaging content. On the surface, your message will be different with every piece you create. But, underlying it all, will be the brand message. You must always be able to trace everything you create back to this.
This message will be expressed through the language used and the value proposition – the specific thing that makes you attractive to the customer.
Don’t forget, you need to convert the customer at the same time – so be mindful of this. Does this sound tricky? Conversion copywriting requires a certain skill to ensure it delivers a brand message at the same time. You might want to call in the experts to make sure you get it right because if you do, you will definitely reap the rewards.
At first glance, the marriage of healthcare and mobile apps may seem a strange one. Many older people have a fairly rarefied view of medical appointments and would never imagine incorporating their smartphones into the management of their personal health. But as access to—and acceptance of—digital solutions has become more commonplace the healthcare market has seen the beginnings of enormous disruptions to the status quo. According to a 2017 report from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, there are currently more than 318,000 mobile health— or mHealth— apps available worldwide, with more added each day.
MHealth apps can take many forms, and even the most novice app user has almost certainly encountered at least one. Ranging in focus from nutrition and fitness to mental and medical health, the field is a broad one. Some of the more recognizable fitness apps include Youtube star Cassey Ho’s Blogilates, or Under Armour’s MyFitnessPal app, which helps track a user’s diet and count calories, but more and more developers are starting to see the opportunities that come along with creating apps geared towards medical health. Recent research by Accenture shows that 75% of surveyed consumers consider technology important to managing their health, and the number of people who use mHealth apps and accompanying wearable technology has more than doubled since 2014, from 16% to 48%.
The fact is that as consumers become more tech-literate on average, demand for mHealth apps will continue to increase. The “anytime, anywhere” factor of having tools to manage your health in your pocket is a major factor driving that demand, and Medical Economics reports that even as far back as 2010, 79% of survey respondents would be more likely to select a healthcare provider who allows them to conduct healthcare interactions either online or on a mobile device. And if all that doesn’t convince you that it’s an exciting time to be in the mHealth app market, then consider this: Research and Markets projected the 2018 value of the mHealth market to be US$28.320 billion and expects it to climb to US$102.35 billion within five years.
Of course, there’s always a catch.
Earlier, when we stated that there are more mHealth apps available each day, we meant it: some estimates hold that there are two hundred mHealth apps being added to the market each day. If you are aiming to enter the growing mHealth arena, it’s vital to enter with your best foot forward, and that means that you will want to get your mobile app professionally developedas soon as possible.
Going with an innovative, experienced app developer will help your app establish itself. Smaller mobile app developers, such as the highly regarded Guaraná Technologies, will provide the insight and know-how you’ll need to take your concept to market, and you’ll have the added advantage of not being lost in the shuffle of a larger app farm. While the market may be ripe for new entries, those entries will need to be as strong as possible before they are introduced, so don’t hesitate to get the professional insight that will make the difference.
Human health is a big field, and the opportunities to connect patients and mHealth apps are endless. The market is growing, and that growth shows absolutely no sign of slowing down anytime soon. From individual states launching their own mHealth app for state residents to apps and technology aimed at ever more specific medical purposes, there is plenty of yet-undiscovered territory, and now is the time to make it yours.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a privacy and security tool that has been around for decades. It lets you securely connect to the Internet, or a remote private network using servers in a specified location, all the while making it seem as though you’re accessing the Internet or the network from the location of the VPN server.
VPNs are becoming increasingly important as the world becomes more connected. People use the technology for browsing the Internet anonymously, to carry out P2P tasks, and to access content that is otherwise restricted in their location. Even though the general public’s knowledge about VPN technology has grown, there are still some misconceptions about the technology that not only rob people of the benefits of VPNs, but also confuse their efforts to identify the VPNs, and expose them to security risks as they go about their business online.
This article addresses five of these myths and explains why they are untrue.
Myth 1: I’m not engaging in illegal online activities, so I don’t need a VPN
Among the most common misconceptions regarding VPNs is that the only purpose of this technology is to allow a user to engage in illegal online activities. Examples of such activities include bypassing legal restrictions in your country to use certain communication networks, or accessing content from streaming services, such as Netflix and Hulu, which may be blocked in your country or region.
Granted, a large proportion of users worldwide use VPNs for these purposes. They are, however, not the most important purpose of the technology. The main reason VPNs were created is to ensure security over a network by encrypting a user’s data. Therefore, the main beneficiaries of VPNs are people who are concerned that their online security may be in jeopardy.
A good example of a case where using a VPN is of utmost importance is when you are engaging in banking transactions over a public Wi-Fi network, such as the one available at your preferred coffee shop, in the library, or at the airport. Failure to use a VPN in such a case exposes you to a variety of threats, including man-in-the-middle attacks by hackers seeking to steal your data for negative purposes.
Myth 2: Using a VPN diminishes my browsing experience because it reduces my connection speeds
If you’re vaguely familiar with the mechanics of VPN technology, then you probably know that a VPN passes your traffic through a server, typically located in a distant country. Understandably, you thus expect that your Internet speeds will slow down drastically. Well, it’s not that simple.
To begin with, the speed of your Internet connection is largely determined by the quality of the network infrastructure used by your Internet Service Provider and the data package to which you have subscribed. In simple terms, the speed of your VPN cannot exceed the speed offered by your Internet Service Provider.
In addition to that, the speed of your VPN connection depends on the location of the VPN server you’re using to connect to the Internet. The farther away the server is from your device and the website you’re accessing, the greater the latency of the connection. For that reason, it is essential that you use a VPN provider with a vast network of well-maintained servers across the globe.
Myth 3: I can save a few dollars and get a good enough service by using free VPNs
Sometimes, free is good. Most times, though, free services are worth as much as they cost. When it comes to free VPNs, you’re usually heavily compromising on important features and giving up more than you bargained for.
To begin with, even though a VPN provider might offer free services, they will usually be accompanied by some restrictions. The monthly limit on bandwidth may not be adequate for the average user, and the VPN connection speed is typically unimpressive. Such restrictions are standard with free VPNs.
Second, the worst-case scenario when using a free VPN service is that you will be voluntarily giving away all your browsing history and personal data, such as your email address. As the popular quote goes, if you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product. Think about it, VPN providers have to spend money, at the very least, to maintain the server network.
If you insist on using free VPN services, make sure you read the terms of service carefully. In the end, you get what pay for. With most of the leading premium VPN providers, you can be sure that your online activity is not logged and the connection speed will be optimum.
Myth 4: It doesn’t matter which VPN I use because they’re all the same
You couldn’t be further from the truth. By the time you make the decision to use a VPN, it will be clear to you that securing all your online activity is worthwhile. You’ve decided that maintaining privacy is a top priority.
If you know a bit about how VPNs work, then you’re aware that an important aspect of the technology is the type of encryption used to secure your data as it bounces around servers. The type of encryption used varies from one VPN provider to another: some use industry-leading, military-grade encryption, while others use weaker encryption standards.
OpenVPN is the most secure VPN technology, while PPTP is the least secure. When considering which VPN provider to use, your main consideration should ideally be the type of VPN protocols that are available in the packages offered, because it impacts your security.
In terms of privacy, you want to choose a VPN provider that does not keep logs of your online activity. VPNs have varying Privacy Policies. Some keep minimal logs but delete them after a specified period. To find out whether a VPN provider logs information, and what information is logged, read the provider’s Privacy Policy and consult trusted reviews from experts and users.
Myth 5: I can do whatever I want online because I’m using a good VPN
Needless to say, it is important that this dangerous myth is dispelled. Using even the best VPN on the market doesn’t mean that you have absolute protection, or that you can engage in activities that are risky and illegal. If you visit dubious websites, you open yourself up to the threat of phishing or keylogger attempts and other attacks by cybercriminals.
It’s essential to always maintain vigilance online. In addition to using a VPN, use other powerful security tools (an anti-malware, anti-virus, and firewall), be wary of dubious emails, and avoid connecting to unknown Wi-Fi connections.
Additionally, if you’re using a VPN to download pirated content, note that not every provider will hide your activity. So, before you settle on a VPN provider, find out which P2P activities are supported and encrypted.
Final Thought
Never compromise on your online privacy and security. Learn about VPNs and equip yourself with the right knowledge to ensure you choose the most suitable provider to cater to your needs, allowing you to browse, work, and play online with peace of mind.
