Welcome to AMAGOLDD's Blog: Business

Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts

Monday, 23 January 2017

Refocusing Your Efforts Over Your Business

07:06:00

If your small business is up and running successfully, it may be time to think about taking the next step. Maybe you want to reach new markets, offer new products, or take your business in a completely different direction. Whatever your goal, you'll need to make changes to get your business growth-ready and create opportunities for expansion.

Delegate your day-to-day duties. As you grow your business, you will need to adjust your own responsibilities to fill a more strategic role. Your managerial duties should be delegated to another employee, contractor, or virtual assistant so that you can spend time representing your business and strategizing its growth. After all, both managing and business and growing a business are full-time jobs. Just make sure whoever you delegate your duties to is up to the challenge.

You may want to hire outside the company to find someone to take over your day-to-day responsibilities.
Outsourcing work does not require hiring a full time employee. Instead, it can involve building a team that may include virtual members, part-time workers, full-time employees, and freelancer/contract workers.
Handing over these responsibilities can be difficult for entrepreneurs, but rest assured that delegation will help your business grow and succeed.

Watch your environment. Current market conditions can be the deciding factor in whether or not your business will take off or remain stagnant. Your advantage as a small business, versus large corporations, is that your business organization is small and nimble enough to quickly respond to changes in market trends. Watch for these trends and jump on them if they work with your product offerings.

Try to forecast your customers' future needs and accommodate them as quickly as possible.
Be prepared to make miscalculations and fail, but be equally prepared to get back up and move past these failures.

Build your business's brand. Modern customers require more than a good product; they need to believe in your business's brand. A brand defines your business's ideals and goals, and also separates you from the competition. As your business grows, your brand will become a signal to customers that they are getting a good product from a reputable company. Build a brandy by looking at the following components:

A brand message. Make your customers associate your business's ideals with your products. They need more than just a description of your product's features.
A well-defined audience. You can't please everyone. Locate your market and sell to them.
Connection with your market. Make your customers feel like they are a part of your business.
Replicate your brand message everywhere. All business materials, advertising, and employees should consistently reflect your brand message.

Use technology where you can. With the current proliferation of business-focused software applications, chances are you'll be able to find the technology to fix any problem you have. Locate difficulties or inefficiencies in your business models and then search for software solutions to fix them.

Technology can also be useful for automating processes.

Stay passionate in your business endeavors. Remind yourself of your reasoning behind starting your business, and never lose that drive. If you find you are losing the enthusiasm, find out why. There was a reason initially, so stay on focus, and remain positive. Without passion, your business will not grow.

Sunday, 15 January 2017

Understanding Your Saving and Investment Options

09:00:00

You are never too young to start saving and investing. People that start investing when they are young are more likely to develop habits that will last a lifetime. The earlier you start investing, the more money you’ll accumulate over time. To find additional dollars to invest, you might start your own business. Everyone can find money to invest if they analyze and change their spending habits.

Use a savings account or buy a certificate of deposit. A savings account gives you access to your money at any time with very low risk. This option, however, offers a low interest rate on your investment. A certificate of deposit (CD) offers a slightly better return, but with less flexibility. You must leave the money with the bank for a period of time ranging from months to years.

These investments have several benefits. They are easy to set up, and they're typically insured by a government agency, meaning they're very safe.
The downside is that these investments pay very little interest. Without much interest, you don’t generate as much compounded interest. As a result, CDs and savings accounts are suitable only for holding small amounts of money for very short periods of time. They may improve as savings vehicles in times of high interest rates.
Smaller banks and credit unions will sometimes offer higher interest rates in order to attract customers away from larger institutions.

Invest in government or municipal bonds. When you buy bonds, you are loaning money to a government or municipality. You can also invest in bonds issued by corporations.

Bonds pay a fixed rate of interest on your investment each year. You can reinvest your interest in more bonds and allow compounding work for you.
Payment of your original investment (principal) and your interest is based on the credit rating of the issuer. Government bonds and municipal bonds are often guaranteed by tax dollars that the issuer collects, so risk is low.
A corporate bond’s payments are based on the creditworthiness of the corporation. A company that generates consistent earnings will have a better credit rating.
You can buy bonds through your bank, or using a financial advisor.
There is a downside to bonds investing. When interest rates are low, returns can be small. Even in times of higher rates, bonds usually offer lower returns than stocks. Bonds, however, are normally considered less risky than stocks.
The average return on bonds since 1928 (including compounding) is 6.7% per year, compared to 10% for stocks.

Buy stocks. When you buy stocks, you are a company owner. Stock investors are also referred to as equity investors. Investors buy stocks to earn dividends and to benefit from an increase in the stock’s price.

Stocks offer better returns on average than most other types of investments. While stocks offer higher returns, they also involve more risk. The longer you are able to invest in stocks, the more time you have to recover from a stock price decrease.
If the company generates earnings, they may elect to pay a share of those earnings as a dividend to stockholders.
You can purchase stocks by opening a brokerage account. You’ll be asked to complete a new account form. Once your account is open, you can deposit funds and purchase stock. Consider using a financial advisor to invest in stocks.

Invest in a mutual fund. A mutual fund is a pool of money contributed by many investors. The funds are invested in securities, such as bonds or stocks. The mutual fund portfolio can generate bond interest or stock dividend income. Fund investors may also benefit if a security is sold for a gain.

Mutual fund accounts are easy to open and maintain. Investors pay fees to the fund for money management. You can add to your investment regularly and reinvest your earnings, if you choose.
Funds allow you to invest in a variety of stocks and bonds. This provides the safety of diversity, protecting you against losing money when just a few securities decline in value.
Most mutual funds allow you to invest with a small initial amount and to add small, periodic investments. If you don't have much to invest, this will be important. Some funds allow you to begin with as little as $1,000 and add in increments of as little as $50 or $100.

Wednesday, 28 December 2016

Beating Specific Investment Fears

05:51:00

There are plenty of reasons to have reservations about investing. However, succumbing to these fears also means missing out on proven opportunities to expand your personal wealth. Overcome investment fear by becoming more familiar with different investment options, addressing any specific concerns you may have, and developing a reliable investment plan.

Assess your personal finances. If you feel like you don’t have enough money to start investing, it’s worth taking the time to monitor your finances. You may be able to identify and curb unnecessary spending, and wind up with some discretionary investing money after all.

Monitor your expenses for a month or two, and consider categorizing expenses according to necessity. For instance, while you’ll likely want to continue buying groceries, those daily $6 lattes might not be so tempting when you realize you could be investing $180 a month instead.

Acknowledge the opportunity cost of investing. You may be thinking that you’d rather spend your discretionary income on experiences and entertainment. It’s hard to argue against rewarding yourself from time to time. That said, if you find yourself constantly splurging on possessions and vacations, take a moment to consider the practical trade off you’re missing out on. Namely, investments tend to increase in value over time, meaning you can get more for your money later on.

Diminish unnecessary spending by reminding yourself about the rewards of using your money to invest. For instance, talk yourself out of this year’s handbag by reminding yourself you can visit Italy instead, after a few years of patient investing.

Don’t postpone investing for later in life. One of the most common reasons people hesitate to invest is the belief that they can simply begin doing so when they’re older. While this is true, it also means you’ll miss out on some serious investment potential - if only through exponential growth of your savings.

The fact of the matter is that there’s never an easy time to buckle down and start investing. Making the decision to start now is one of the best ways to both overcome your hesitation and wind up with a successful investment portfolio.

Invest a fixed amount in regular intervals. One of the scary factors when deciding whether to invest is “when”. You can effectively eliminate this concern - and temper the actual risk involved in investing, by investing the same amount of money periodically.

It may seem too good to be true, but it’s a proven strategy. It’s called dollar-cost averaging, and helps account for the regular ups and downs of the market. For example, simply invest $50 every month, or $150 every quarter.
Investing in mutual funds is a good route to take if you intend to invest in incremental amounts. Mutual fund traders don't charge you each time you make a new investment, whereas you have to pay each time you purchase a stock.

Friday, 11 November 2016

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07:45:00

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Thursday, 10 November 2016

Preparing Yourself To Invest

07:06:00

FLICKR

Ensure investing is right for you. Investing in the stock market involves risk, and this includes the risk of permanently losing money. Before investing, always ensure you have your basic financial needs taken care of in the event of a job loss or catastrophic event.

Make sure you have 3 to 6 months of your income readily available in a savings account. This ensures that if you quickly need money, you will not need to rely on selling your stocks. Even relatively "safe" stocks can fluctuate dramatically over time, and there is always a probability your stock could be below what you bought it for when you need cash.
Ensure your insurance needs are met. Before allocating a portion of your monthly income to investing, make sure you own proper insurance on your assets, as well as on your health.
Remember to never depend on investment money to cover any catastrophic event, as investments do fluctuate over time. For example, if your savings were invested in the stock market in 2008, and you also needed to spend 6 months off work due to an illness, you would have been forced to sell your stocks at a potential 50% loss due to the market crash at the time. By having proper savings and insurance, your basic needs are always covered regardless of stock market volatility.

Choose the appropriate type of account. Depending on your investment needs, there are several different types of accounts you may want to consider opening. Each of these accounts represents a vehicle in which to hold your investments.

A taxable account refers to an account in which all investment income earned within the account is taxed in the year it was received. Therefore, if you received any interest or dividend payments, or if you sell the stock for a profit, you will need to pay the appropriate taxes. As well, money is available without penalty in these accounts, as opposed to investments in tax deferred accounts.
A traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) allows for tax-deductible contributions but limits how much you can contribute. An IRA doesn't allow you to withdraw funds until you reach retirement age (unless you're willing to pay a penalty). You would be required to start withdrawing funds by age 70. Those withdrawals will be taxed. The benefit to the IRA is that all investments in the account can grow and compound tax free. If, for example, you have $1000 invested in a stock, and receive a 5% ($50 per year) in dividends, that $50 can be reinvested in full, rather than less due to taxes. This means the next year, you will earn 5% on $1050. The trade-off is less access to money due to the penalty for early withdrawal.
Roth Individual Retirement Accounts do not allow for tax-deductible contributions but do allow for tax-free withdrawals in retirement. Roth IRAs do not require you to make withdrawals by a certain age, making them a good way to transfer wealth to heirs.
Any of these can be effective vehicles for investing. Spend some time learning more about your options before making a decision.

Implement dollar cost averaging. While this may sound complex, dollar cost averaging simply refers to the fact that -- by investing the same amount each month -- your average purchase price will reflect the average share price over time. Dollar cost averaging reduces risk due to the fact that by investing small sums on regular intervals, you reduce your odds of accidentally investing before a large downturn. It is a main reason why you should set up a regular schedule of monthly investing. In addition, it can also work to reduce costs, since when shares drop, your same monthly investment will purchase more of the lower cost shares.

When you invest money in a stock, you purchase shares for a particular price. If you can spend $500 per month, and the stock you like costs $5 per share, you can afford 100 shares.
By putting a fixed amount of money into a stock each month ($500 for example), you can lower the price you pay for your shares, and thereby make more money when the stock goes up, due to a lower cost.
This occurs because when the price of the shares drops, your monthly $500 will be able to purchase more shares, and when the price rises, your monthly $500 will purchase less. The end result is your average purchase price will lower over time.
It is important to note that the opposite is also true -- if shares are constantly rising, your regular contribution will buy fewer and fewer shares, raising your average purchase price over time. However, your shares will also be raising in price so you will still profit. The key is to have a disciplined approach of investing at regular intervals, regardless of price, and avoid "timing the market".
At the same time, your frequent, smaller contributions ensure that no relatively large sum is invested before a market downturn, thereby reducing risk.

Explore compounding. Compounding is an essential concept in investing, and refers to a stock (or any asset) generating earnings based on its reinvested earnings.

This is best explained through an example. Assume you invest $1000 in a stock in one year, and that stock pays a dividend of 5% each year. At the end of year one, you will have $1050. In year two, the stock will pay the same 5%, but now the 5% will be based on the $1050 you have. As a result, you will receive $52.50 in dividends, as opposed to $50 in the first year.
Over time, this can produce huge growth. If you simply let that $1000 sit in account earning a 5% dividend, over 40 years, it would be worth over $7000 in 40 years. If you contribute an additional $1000 each year, it would be worth $133,000 in 40 years. If you started contributing $500 per month in year two, it would be worth nearly $800,000 after 40 years.
Keep in mind since this is an example, we assumed the value of the stock and the dividend stayed constant. In reality, it would likely increase or decrease which could result in substantially more or less money after 40 years.

Thursday, 20 October 2016

11 Steps To Motivate Your Employees For Improved Service Quality

06:47:00

Invest in service training, rather than a quality control department. Depending on how large or small your business is, you may already have a quality control department. This department tracks and documents any quality issues and work to address them. But depending on a quality control department can actually set your business up for poor performance, as it may demonstrate to your other employees that quality is not their main concern. Investing in training that trains all workers at all levels, rather than solely in a quality control department, will let your workers know they have a responsibility for providing quality service, no matter their role in the company.

Look at gaps in service training in your current workforce. Have your employees take a customer service seminar, online, or in person, as part of a performance improvement requirement. Organize training sessions that target specific issues or gaps, such as how to interact with customers at the cash register or how to handle a speech to a client in a meeting.
For example, if you are trying to improve service at the cash register, set up a training session targeted at improving service at the register. You may discuss how to greet a customer at the register, how to ring them through quickly and promptly, and how to hand them their change or their charge card at the end of the transaction. You may also instruct your employees to do mock transactions, where one employee acts as the worker at the register and the other employee acts as the customer.
Don’t stop training employees after their first few days or weeks on the job. Teach employees that there is always more they can and should be learning about their job, your business, and how to serve customers.

Set up a new-employee initiation program. This program will train new workers on quality and service as soon as they start work. It should be a well-rounded program that gives new workers a clear sense of your company’s products, services, and core business strategy. It should also reinforce your company’s approach to customers and commitment to quality customer service.

The program should include an overview of your company’s approach to service. Give examples of customer service issues you have had in the past and/or are currently dealing with, as well as the solutions you came up with to address these issues. This will help new hires understand your approach to service and how to problem solve these issues.
Pair up an experienced employee with a new employee. The experienced worker can provide firsthand experience of your company’s operations and of how to perform well in a certain position or role. The experienced worker can also give the new worker pointers on providing quality service for customers.
If possible, conduct part of the new employee orientation yourself. Lead one of the training sessions to show the new employees you are committed to the new hire program. This will also give you a chance to instill the company values in the new hires right away and set the new employees up for success.

Teach the 30/30 rule. This simple rule states that the employee should greet each customer within 30 steps or 30 seconds of entering the store. This attention will ensure that your customers feel welcomed and wanted, which will translate to a more positive view of your business.

Make sure to train your employees to communicate welcome with their body language as well as their words. A “hello” will not mean much if it comes from an employee who does not make eye contact, smile, or stand up straight with open body language.
If your business is web-based, set up an automatic response system so that your customers know their messages have been received and you are working on solving their issue.

Tie your employee’s actions to the business’s overall performance. This means showing your employees that what they do every day in the workplace has a big effect on customer happiness and the bottom line. Tying individual behavior to a larger system will give your employees a sense of how important it is that they practice good quality service every day.

One way of doing this is to challenge your employees to commit to providing the best service possible to customers for one month. At the end of the month, show your employees proof of improvement of sales and lower customer complaints.

Encourage employees to think of customer service as a "story" about your business. Your employees are the principal way that customers will engage with your business. In most cases, how they behave toward customers creates the overall "culture" of a business or store. Understanding that their interactions with customers are not limited to a single exchange at a cash register, but that they actually inform how a customer feels about the entire place, will help motivate employees to provide quality service every time.

For example, the grocery store Trader Joe's frequently performs at the top of its industry in customer service rankings because employees are trained to provide a friendly, laid-back store atmosphere and offer personal recommendations about products. This approach makes it fun to shop there, which draws customers back even though Trader Joe's stock is usually more limited than other grocery stores.

Give your employees service quality goals. These goals should be challenging, but attainable. Research on goal setting has shown that setting specific and challenging goals leads to higher levels of employee performance. Avoid easy or vague goals, such as “just do your best”.

Focus on specific actions and attitudes, like greeting every customer with a smile and a hello, helping them with a fitting room and sizing, and making sure their transaction at the register is fast and pleasant.
For example, at Harrah’s casino in Las Vegas, staff must meet goals that are set up based on the individual's position at the casino, as well as the goals set up by Harrah’s group of hotels in the Vegas area. The managers at Harrah’s work with the employees to make sure the goals are challenging, but attainable. Harrah’s uses a combination of goal setting and future rewards to motivate both the individual employee and the team.

Recognize and reward improvements in employee performance. Motivate your employees by acknowledging their accomplishments and their ability to reach or even surpass customer service goals. There are two primary ways to reward employees:

Financial rewards: One of the easiest ways to implement financial rewards is to increase wages and hand out bonuses to your employees. But if you aren’t in a position to hand out more money to your employees all at once, you can improve their finances in other ways. Give them any extra hours they request, offer more affordable healthcare options, and be flexible around their child or elder care needs.
Non-financial rewards: Create a recognition program that shows your employees how much you appreciate their hard work and attention to customer service. Focus on a program that recognizes the employee’s length of service, positive customer feedback or achievement of a customer service goal. Use rewards like plaques, certificates, company merchandise, gift certificates, or complimentary products. Though these rewards won’t necessarily benefit the employee financially, they will give the employee a sense of pride and achievement that is crucial to maintaining her motivation.

Let your employees know there is room for growth. Another way to motivate and empower your employees to is to provide opportunities to move up to higher positions in the company or business. Create leadership positions for long standing employees or employees that have demonstrated a high level of performance. Encourage newer employees to aspire to a higher position or role and provide them with opportunities to prove themselves.

You may decide to conduct yearly performance reviews of your employees to let them know where they stand and how they can improve their performance for the next year. Performance reviews are also a great way to reinforce positive behaviors to your employees and show them where their career at the company might be headed.

Emphasize problem-solving. It is crucial to emphasize to your employees that they must be helpful as well as friendly. A polite and friendly sales clerk who knows nothing about the merchandise she sells will not satisfy her customers. Similarly, an employee who acknowledges a problem exists without having the ability to address it will not likely impress a customer.

If the employee cannot provide an immediate solution, train your employees to provide a “plan of action” for how the issue will be addressed as soon as possible. For example, if a customer has called with an issue with a lawnmower she purchased, but your store will be closing in five minutes, you could promise to send a person to her home first thing in the morning to repair it.

Teach your employees to overcompensate for any issues or complaints. This is how to attain customer service that goes “above and beyond.” Every customer should leave your store or workplace happy. Even if you or a staff member makes a mistake, the customer should still be satisfied. Do not act defensive or accuse the customer of making a mistake. Listen patiently to the customer’s complaint and offer your sincere apologies. Then, explain how you are going to solve the service issue for the customer. The most polite employee in the world will not make up for incompetence or an inability to solve a customer’s issue.

For example, a customer comes in with a blouse that fell apart in the washing machine. She has her receipt to prove she bought the blouse from your shop two days ago. The customer demands a refund for the blouse, as it was not cheap, but it did not hold up when washed.
The employee calls you, the business owner, over to discuss how to best serve this customer. Start by apologizing to the customer for the poor quality of your inventory. Then, explain that though you do not do refunds (as stated on the receipt), you can offer her a gift card to the store in the full amount of the poor quality item, plus an additional discount on her next purchase. This way, the customer knows you have addressed her problem and you will not leave her dissatisfied. You should then assure the customer that you will investigate the manufacturer of the ruined clothing item and pull the remaining stock from your shelves.
Customers who are unhappy should get incentives to return to your business. This is more likely to create goodwill than solving the problem alone.

Listen to feedback from your employees. Your employees can provide valuable insights into possible improvements to your existing approach to quality service. Paying attention to their feedback also shows you care about what they have to say and take their opinion seriously.

Conduct a quality survey at least once a year among your employees. Send it out by email and set a due date for the survey to be completed. You could also attach incentives or a prize draw to motivate your employees to submit their feedback.
Maintain open communication with your employees by starting the work day with a pep talk before the doors of the store or shop open. Lay out your expectations for quality service for all customers who walk through the door.
Demonstrate specific behaviors that show the customer that the employees value quality service, such as how to greet the customer at the door, chat with them as they pay at the register, and ask them if they would like help with a size, or would like to start a fitting room. Use concrete examples to show, rather than tell, your employees how to provide great service.

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

How To Promote Your Business

07:07:00

Business promotion is an integral part of any business's success, as it is through promotion that a business expands its customer/client base and opens new windows of opportunity. There are many ways to promote a business, and each varies in regards to time, labor and costs. Many business plans use a combination of methods, based on individual needs and circumstances. Here are suggestions for how to promote your business.

Create a brand image, or logo. Widespread brand recognition is your goal, as it will give your business credibility and inspire others to spread the word about your business. Grow your brand by placing your logo in your business stationary, business cards, email signatures, brochures, signs, website and merchandising materials.

Network. Meeting professionals from other, related businesses is an effective form of business promotion, as it provides you with opportunities to learn about your competitors, ask for referrals, form mutually beneficial partnerships in complementary industries and spread awareness about your business throughout a group of like-minded people. Network with other professionals in the following ways:

Attend networking group meetings. You can find networking groups and clubs on the Internet, in newspapers and in trade publications.
Introduce yourself to people at the meetings. Explain what it is your business does, what you offer that makes you stand out from your competition and what you are looking for in business relationships.
Ask relevant questions during group discussions. In addition to promoting your business, you can learn a lot at networking meetings. Additionally, asking open-ended questions encourages others to participate in the conversation, and sets you up for more introductions.
Hand out your business cards. Set up private meetings with those who express an interest in getting to know more about your business.

Advertise. Consider these methods for advertising your business:

Signs. You may opt for storefront signs, billboards, marquee boards or street-side yard signs.
Print. Place print ads in magazines, newspapers, coupon books, trade journals and industry magazines. Choose print mediums that are suited to your business. For example, if you run a technology parts recycling warehouse, then you may consider placing ads in computer classifieds and technology magazines.
Commercials. Television and radio commercials are effective ways to promote your business to a broad audience, but they are relatively costly forms of advertising.
Advertisements. You may opt to pass out promotional materials at trade shows, at store fronts, in parking lots or in any other highly-populated areas. Some businesses, like nightclubs and entertainment venues, hire street crews to hand out advertisements and attract new customers.
Direct mail. You may purchase mailing lists targeted to your segment of the consumer market, then mail out letters, brochures, catalogs or postcards. This method is effective when you want to provide potential customers with paper coupons, vouchers, business cards or promotional merchandising.
Public relations (PR) firms. You may hire a PR firm to create publicity for you in the form of news write-ups and press releases.
Internet. Promoting a business online involves setting up a business website, participating in industry/trade forum discussions, running a blog , setting up accounts on social networking sites, using pay-per-click and banner ads, listing your business information in business directories and employing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Every business, regardless of its size or scope, could benefit from Internet marketing, and many Internet marketing mediums are free to use.
AR Advertising. Short for Augmented Reality Advertising. It enriches the user experience by bringing life to the prints, when it's enhanced with extra layer called a digital layer.

Build business partnerships with other organizations. In effect, piggyback off the success of another business. Taco Bell has recently unveiled the Doritos Locos Taco, which is a branding coup for both Taco Bell and Doritos. Whenever you think of one brand, the other brand comes to mind, and vice versa. Business partnerships can be very effective advertising tools.

Note: it's tough to build a business partnership with an established company when your company isn't yet established. Businesses understand the value (or lack of value) you're giving them, and may want something in return or simple avoid business with you in the first place.

Note: it's tough to build a business partnership with an established company when your company isn't yet established. Businesses understand the value (or lack of value) you're giving them, and may want something in return or simple avoid business with you in the first place.

Note: it's tough to build a business partnership with an established company when your company isn't yet established. Businesses understand the value (or lack of value) you're giving them, and may want something in return or simple avoid business with you in the first place.

Offer freebies. Pass out merchandise with your company's name and/or logo on it to everyone you meet at networking events, trade shows, client meetings and even personal social gatherings. Things like pens, magnets and calendars are good merchandising ideas, as these tend to stay in use, and within view, for extensive periods of time.

Develop relationships with your customers. Customers are people — not numbers — and it is important that you put consideration and effort into building personal relationships with them. For example, when you send out Christmas cards each year, you not only gain customer loyalty but you also inspire customers to promote your business to the people they know.

Encourage customers to talk about their experience using your business. There is no tool more powerful than people talking with their family members or friends about your product or the quality of your work. If your customers are fully satisfied then you should ask them to refer you or your product to their family or friends. It is important to realise that your customers may not do so automatically and sometime a little poke requesting them to refer your business may work wonders. Go ahead, be bold and ask for more work.

Friday, 9 September 2016

11 Points On How To Succeed In Your Own Business

06:39:00

There is no short-cut way to success for succeeding in business. Assuming there is one, there will not be anything called failure in business. But if we take a peek into the history of all successful business organizations, we will find close similarities in their methods of operation in the formative years.

There are certain steps that all successful businesses have followed. These initial methods played a crucial role in their success. Here are few steps that many successful entrepreneurs have used to succeed in business.

Develop a desire to break away from the crowd. You need to have the courage to make use of your idea. A dream and an unfathomable desire to achieve that dream are the two basic aspects needed to succeed in business.

Find your niche. This should be something you are knowledgeable about and have an interest in.

Persevere through setbacks. If you let little roadblocks deter you, you'll never make it in life.

Learning from mistakes. Learn from your mistakes and try to avoid repeating them. Treat every crisis as an opportunity to learn and perform.

Maintain self-discipline. When you own a business, you get freedom. Quite often this freedom paves the way to complacency. Your business will only survive if you buckle down and work at it. You have no one to answer to but yourself.

Commit to your business idea and to all those people who are part of your plans. These can be your employees, friends or family members.

Be patient. No tree gives fruit overnight. For the fruit to appear, the tree has to undergo several phases. Similar is the success in any business venture. You need to be patient to reap the fruits of your toil. You need to keep your effort through the lean phase. You need to be steady and focused.

Be flexible. A brilliant idea alone will not ensure success in business. You need to learn to adapt your idea to the present day needs. Your idea should reach maximum customers with ease. In the initial years, customers will not come to you. You need to take your product or service to the customer.

Be prepared to answer any questions from the customer i.e. "What is there in your product or service that other people do not have?" If you have a solid answer to this question, you are right on track.

Monday, 5 September 2016

Focusing On The Future As An Investor

06:59:00

Be patient. The number-one obstacle that prevents investors from seeing the huge effects of compounding mentioned earlier is lack of patience. Indeed, it is difficult to watch a small balance grow slowly and, in some instances, lose money in the short term.

Try to remind yourself that you are playing a long game. The lack of immediate, large profits should not be taken as a sign of failure. For example, if you a purchase a stock, you can expect to see it fluctuate between profit and loss. Often, a stock will fall before it rises. Remember that you are buying a piece of a concrete business, and in the same way you would not be discouraged if the value of a gas station you owned declined over the course of a week or a month, you should not be discouraged if the value of your stock fluctuates. Focus on the companies earnings over time to gauge its success or failure, and the stock will follow.

Keep up the pace. Concentrate on the pace of your contributions. Stick to the amount and frequency you decided upon earlier, and let your investment build up slowly.

You should relish low prices! Dollar-cost-averaging into the market is a tried and true strategy for generating wealth over the long run. Furthermore, the less expensive the stock prices are today, the more upside you can expect tomorrow.

Stay informed and look ahead. In this day and age, with technology that can provide you with the information you seek in an instant, it is tough to look several years to the future while monitoring your investment balances. Those that do, however, will slowly build their snowball until it builds up speed and helps them achieve their financial goals.

Stay the course. The second biggest obstacle to achieving compounding is the temptation to change your strategy by chasing fast returns from investments with recent big gains or selling investments with recent losses. That's actually the opposite of what most really successful investors do.

In other words, don’t chase returns. Investments that are experiencing very high returns can just as quickly turn around and go down. "Chasing returns" can often be a disaster. Stick to your original strategy, assuming it was well thought out to begin with.
Stay put and don’t repeatedly enter and exit the market. History shows that being out of the market on the four or five biggest up-days in each calendar year can be the difference between making and losing money. You won't recognize those days until they've already passed.
Avoid timing the market. For example, you may be tempted to sell when you feel the market may decline, or avoid investing because you feel the economy is in a recession. Research has proven the most effective approach is to simply invest at a steady pace and use the dollar cost averaging strategy discussed above.
Studies have found that people who simply dollar cost average and stay invested do far better then people who try to time the market, invest a lump sum every year on new years, or who avoid stocks.

Saturday, 3 September 2016

Implementing Your Passion At Work

07:43:00

Your passion is the reason you wake up in the morning, and just the thought of it can keep you up late with excitement. Passion can also be a quieter feeling of satisfaction, knowing you’re living life on your terms. However, not everyone knows exactly what his or her passion is right away. Don't worry -- whether you're looking for your passion to find a new career, or if you're looking to get completely immersed in a new hobby or activity, there are a number of things you can do to find your passion.

Do your research. Read up on your new passion. Talk with people who have experienced it for themselves. Check out books from the library. Take classes. The more you know about your passion, the better-equipped you’ll be to make the transition. For example, if you’ve decided to start your own business, you need to know how to do that. What skills do you need? What funding, products, etc., will you need to set up before you can open your doors?

Talking with people in the career or area you feel passionate about can be extremely helpful. Generally, people are happy to give you advice and tell you how they’ve made their way. They can also tell you the less-exciting stuff about your new passion, which is important to know now so it doesn’t surprise you later.

Avoid jumping into a new job just on instinct. It can be incredibly tempting to ditch your old unfulfilling job and dive headfirst into the new career you’ve just discovered. However, it’s a good idea to test your new discovery before leaving the stability of your old job. Everyone can be passionate about something new and exciting for a few days. When you discover the unpleasant or even dull aspects of your new discovery and still love it, that’s when you know it’s right for you.

For example, becoming a chef might seem like the ideal career for you, but it’s easy to glamorize something when you’re not living in it day to day. Taking a culinary class -- or even enrolling in culinary school -- will familiarize you with the nitty-gritty details, such as the insanely long hours, hot kitchens, and generally low pay. Once you know the worst about your new interest and still can’t imagine yourself doing anything else, you can feel confident that you’ve found a real passion.

Commit to leaving when it just feels wrong. If you feel stuck at a dead-end job that fulfills none of your needs except paying the rent every month, commit to finding something else. You may even find that quitting before you’ve found another job motivates you to work harder. This is because of a little something called the “zone of optimal anxiety,” a psychological phenomenon where being in an unfamiliar situation causes just enough anxiety to make you work harder and think more creatively.

Be aware, however, that too much stress is as bad for your performance as too little. If you leave your unfulfilling job without any savings or other ideas and have a mortgage, student loans, and your kid’s tuition to cover, you might find yourself overwhelmed with so much stress that you can’t function.

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