Business

Despite the fact that your small business is performing decently in the market, you still have too meager a profit to show, largely due to your expenses. This is where all the money is going and this is where you have to pull the plug. Sometimes, even pulling the plug doesn’t do the job, and in such scenarios, businesses end up requiring loans, including short-term business loans.

There were around 60% of newly launched brands that hardly grew their small businesses to five years in 2018 alone? Do you know what they all lacked despite perseverance and the ambition to grow? Well, to be honest, a business budget. There was no check and balance of their funding, and hence, no evaluation of performance or improvement of skills.

First of all, you need a pat on the back for dissolving the market’s saturation with your brand’s topnotch services. But perhaps it’s time you sit down with your accounts department and share some insight on what you detest the most – budgeting – yes, too unkempt of us.

According to Donna Conte of Warren Averett, a budget helps propel your business to higher levels of growth because you’re not only keeping your expenses organized, but also evaluating your performance as you grow.

Planning a budget for your small business might give you the ‘shivers’ and ‘shudders’, but someone’s gotta do it, and you can’t keep putting everything off for tomorrow. Your brand requires a simple business budget so that you can tally your monthly earnings with your cash flow and decide how to balance both.

Take it from the people who didn’t have a penny to their name for the first couple of months of their new business, and go through our simple step-by-step business budgeting guide below.

Income Resources

First things first – plan your business budget by narrowing down your complete income resources so that you can compare them the next time you need to invest. Your income resources will also include the earnings from the hourly or monthly product sales of your brand that may be further categorized into the savings you have in your bank account.

Add any (or all) loans that you’ve applied for funding the one-time or fixed expenses of your business into the checklist.

Fixed Expenses

For a start-up to be successful, you cannot be a one-man show – this means you must have employees under the roof of your workspace with fixed salaries to pay every month. Not only that, if you’re working from the comfort of your home or a purchased office, you might have to pay a mortgage or rent in case of a shared workspace.

With utilities and expenses to pay every month, there must be a few that are always fixed. For instance, take the allowances spent in hosting the internet, website, phone lines, electricity and other utilities, accounting services, legal fees, government taxes and insurance which are fixed and warrant a specific checklist as per your expenses.

Variable Costs

It’s crucial to pitch your start-up from rock bottom to the top, but we are not asking you to count your earnings or tally your profits with your investment at the time when you actually make it. Once your profits increase – even if you have to show only a meager 5% than last time – you can use the additional funds for climbing the growth ladder faster.

Such variable costs include the expenses you’re using to finance your advertising or marketing strategies, print services, raw materials, contractor wages, and even commissions. Also, you might up your work travel game once in a while, and take your employees to an overseas conference or treat yourself to a vacation with the leftover fundings!

One-Time Expenses

Given that you cannot work in an empty workspace, you might need to spend on equipment and software that might put a big burden on your bank account but are highly necessary. To make your workspace livable and hence, workable, you’d need to spend on furniture, computers, software, and office supplies, but gladly, you can include them in the checklist for your one-time expenses.

Conclusion

Once you’ve created specific checklists for all the four costs mentioned above, you need to pull them together and create a business budget that you can refer to every month. You can make a separate budget for your annual or half-yearly costs so that you can compare the total and improvise when needed.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

From selling ice cream on his local beach between finishing high school and going to college, Jordan Belfort – the subject of the 2013 movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ – went on to make millions through fraudulent stock market manipulation schemes before eventually ‘going straight’ as an author and motivational speaker.

Fraud on an epic scale

Born in New York in 1962, Jordan Belfort wanted to make serious money from an early stage but honest money making endeavors eventually gave way to fraudulent activities as greed took over. While some common frauds may involve tampering with checks – something now made harder with innovative check security – Belfort’s scams involved many people and millions of dollars.

A money-making streak

Belfort’s ambition and nose for money-making started when he and a friend made $20,000 selling ice desserts to sunbathers on the beach near his home.

After a very short lived stint at dental school, Belfort went into business selling meat and seafood door-to-door. He claimed to be selling some two tonnes per week, but the business eventually failed, leaving him bankrupt in his mid 20s.

Undeterred by this setback, Belfort went into stockbroking and in the late 1980s formed his own company, Stratton Oakmont. Things went well, but Belfort’s penchant for exploiting opportunities spiraled out of control as his company veered into ‘pump and dump’ stock trading territory.

The ‘pump and dump’ era

Pump and dump is a scheme that tries to boost the price of a stock through false, or at least extremely exaggerated, claims.

Those running these illegal schemes have shares in the stock they’re promoting, and sell it when the price reaches a certain level once the hype has done its job and others have bought in.

Belfort’s company had gangs of high pressure sales people working in a ‘boiler room’ environment giving potential investors the hard sell by aggressively persuading them to invest.

New investors drove up the share prices and, once they’d reached certain levels and the market was saturated with no more investors coming in, Belfort’s team would sell, leaving some investors who didn’t ‘get out’ fast enough with vastly overpriced stock.

At its peak, Belfort’s company employed some 1,000 brokers looking after investments totaling more than $1 billion.

The high life

Belfort enjoyed the fruits of his company’s activities with mansions, fast cars, helicopters and yachts. This escalated into drug abuse, expensive accidents including crashed sports cars and a helicopter, the sinking of his yacht, and two marriage break ups.

Belfort’s employees were encouraged to follow their boss’s lead. Substance abuse and miscellaneous horseplay featured heavily in their Long Island offices while living by the hard selling motto “don’t hang up until the customer buys or dies”.

Prosecution

The National Association of Securities Dealers had been monitoring Stratton Oakmont pretty much from its inception in 1989 and had taken various legal actions against it. In 1996, the company was shut down and Belfort and his main associate were charged with securities fraud and money laundering.

Belfort pleaded guilty and it was revealed his pump and dump schemes could have cost investors some $200 million.

Acquittal and reinvention

Belfort served 22 months of his four year sentence and had to make restitution payments totaling $110 million to the defrauded investors, although he’s reportedly only paid around $14 million at the last count.

A fellow inmate in prison encouraged Belfort to write a book about his colorful past. ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ materialized and attracted a reported half a million dollar advance payment from publisher Random House and a bidding war for the film rights.

In 2013, the Martin Scorsese-directed film of the same name was released with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Belfort. There was much speculation, claims and counter claims as to how much of the film was really a true portrayal of what went on.

Belfort has continued writing, including a self help book on selling, and runs sales training and motivational courses and seminars.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

Traveling overseas should be safe and enjoyable, and most of the time, it is. Being far from home in a foreign land can occasionally lead to misadventure and sometimes even disaster. What will you do if your wallet and passport are lost or stolen? Being abroad with no money is a terrifying scenario, luckily keeping your money safe while traveling is easy.

Talk to your bank

Before you head overseas, notify your bank of when and where you are going and the duration of your trip. Some banks will automatically lock down an account if suspicious activity is noted, such as transactions made overseas.

Talk to your bank about your account and its features. Does your account allow you to send money overseas? Does your bank have a presence overseas? Will your card be accepted at international ATM’s? It pays to know the features of your bank account as well as its limitations.

Carry small amounts of hidden cash

Having a small reserve of local currency hidden on your person can save your life if the worst were to happen, and you lost all your documents and cards. If you don’t want to withdraw local currency, US dollars are accepted in many places around the world and can be withdrawn before you leave for your destination.

Copy and protect your documents

Creating a digital copy of your documents is fast and easy and will ensure you have a lifeline in case your bags are lost or stolen. Emailing a copy to yourself will ensure that these copies are reachable. Take a picture of your overseas card and email this to yourself; if this card was lost you could still pay for accommodation or flights with the card’s details.

Pre-paid cards

By using your everyday banking card overseas, you risk your bank account being compromised. A pre-paid cash card or credit card can be an excellent way of paying your way while keeping your money safe. A card with a pre-paid value is less of a blow to lose as it isn’t linked to your accounts. Losing a few hundred dollars is vastly preferable to having to talk to your bank while on an overseas holiday.

Using your everyday banking account will also attract hefty transaction and conversion fees, another reason to consider using a prepaid cash card. Cash cards are limited, however, and you won’t be able to receive or send money overseas, a big problem if you get stuck without a bank card.

Become a less appealing target for thieves.

Muggings and petty thefts are tragically common occurrences for tourists in some countries. You don’t need to be aggressive or wired like a soldier defending his territory, be mindful, and keep your eyes open. Thieves are mostly opportunists, so present the least appealing option, and they will target someone else.

Money belts have become a dinner bell for would-be pickpockets and muggers, and they become uncomfortable after several days of use. Instead, consider clothing with concealed pockets, but remember, every time you reach into a hidden pocket, you are showing potential thieves where you keep your cash. Be aware of your surroundings, and don’t be gaudy with your money.

Heading overseas can be exciting and fun, but we desperately hope our money will be safe. Avoid the stress of money and discuss your upcoming trip with your bank. Have a back-up of all of your important documents and cards and make sure you can receive or send money overseas in case you get in a bind. Staying alert and keeping inconspicuous will reduce your risk of becoming a victim of theft.

Keeping your money safe while traveling overseas is straightforward and easy, it just takes some common sense. Hopefully this guide will allow you to spend less time worrying and more time enjoying your next trip overseas

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Electronic Data Integration (EDI) has been around for decades and has helped businesses to securely transact data between suppliers, vendors, customers, and shipping companies securely and quickly. Some of the uses of EDI are for billing, ordering and fulfilment of orders. What is an EDI Ordering System?

EDI Ordering System & Billing System Benefits

EDI billing was developed mainly to allow the automotive industry to implement Just-in-Time (JIT) order processing and inventory management across their supply networks and own manufacturing plants. EDI ordering and billing automates the ordering and billing process to significantly reduce costs and increase speed of fulfilment.

The old school way of doing this of course is by sending a purchase order to a supplier, who then processes that order and generates an invoice to be paid by the customer within a set period of time.

With the EDI version of this the system is integrated between the two parties and all steps become automated. The customer first of all fills out an EDI purchase order which is then sent instantaneously straight to the ERP system of the supplier creating an order to ship the product, and generating an invoice which is automatically sent in return to the customer. The customer can choose to automate payment of the invoice as well, perhaps receiving a discount from the supplier for this. This whole process rather than being spread over a couple of days can take place easily within a few seconds creating time efficiencies. A number of personnel are taken out of the process as well bringing large cost savings.

EDI Ordering Integration with Ecommerce

Software is also available which can commence the order process at ecommerce level for either corporate or consumer customers. Using a payment platform which takes upfront payment the billing process is simplified, but many customers will still need an invoice sent by email to them for accounting purposes.

Order Tracking & Fulfilment

Additional integrations can be made with either drop-ship suppliers or shipping companies to automate shipping and delivery. These can also provide tracking information to the company or even directly to the customer who can then track their order and even stipulate the exact delivery schedule. This greatly reduces customer enquiries regarding delivery times, and then communication between suppliers, vendors and shipping companies as to where an order is at in the process.

Clearing the adoption of EDI ordering and billing is advantageous to a company to reduce costs and improve transaction duration turn around. When integrated with other solutions such as ecommerce integration, drop-shipping arrangements and integration with the fulfilment supply chain, all parties benefit from a more efficient order and billing process, and the end customer’s expectations will be exceeded in terms of the speed of delivery and the transparency of the order process throughout their wait for delivery. Smaller companies that implement these integrated order processes are empowered to compete with larger competitors, and can realistically consider supplying large retail groups and a massive network of online retailers.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

All businesses should have a strong online presence. In today’s digital world, businesses aren’t going to be able to stand out against their competition if they don’t have a good website. This is why businesses need to invest time and effort into improving their search engine optimization. SEO is what helps businesses show up in search results and can bring in leads and sales. But while many SEO tactics focus on creating new and interesting content for consumers, you can find other non-content ways to improve SEO.

Focus on page speed

Before today’s high-speed Internet, people were used to waiting a few minutes for a page to load. But that’s no longer the case. When consumers make an online search, they want immediate results. So if a consumer clicks on a business’s link and the page takes longer than a few seconds to load, chances are, they’re going to go to another page.

Businesses can experience a 7% loss in conversions if they have even a 1-second delay in their page speed. When consumers see that a page is loading slowly, they’re going to think that the business doesn’t care enough about getting their customers to ensure everything loads quickly. And most people who visit a page that doesn’t load quickly won’t return to that site again. This shows page speed has a strong connection and the number of conversions a business gets.

So if your page speed isn’t where it should be, focus on fixing it. Removing things like plug-ins you no longer need, minimizing sidebar links, and optimizing images can all help to significantly improve page speed. And, of course, choosing a good host will help, too.

Use the right links

Links are a huge factor in SEO — without links, sites won’t get nearly as much traffic as they could. Now, there are two different types of links businesses should invest in: linking to other websites that have relevant information and getting links from other reputable sites. By linking to other sites, businesses can show consumers that they genuinely care about giving them the best information possible, and they can also build relationships with other brands. Search engines do look at the links on sites, so businesses should only link to trustworthy sites.

But businesses should also try to get other brands to link to their site — inbound links will put a business’s name and information out there for even more people to see. And when a highly reputable site links to a business, consumers are likely to visit their page. Having strong links both to and from other sites will help increase a business’s online presence.

Include varying types of media

While written content certainly plays a big role in SEO by including links, keywords, and giving consumers information they’re looking for, businesses should include other types of media on their sites, too. Including images, videos, and even audio can provide a more interesting experience for consumers — and can help with SEO efforts. Search engines see these varying types of media as a sign that a site is high-quality and can help with rankings.

When a site has more than just written information, users are more likely to have a better experience, retain more information, and visit the site again.

And, of course, working with an SEO digital marketing company, such as Link Graph at linkgraph.io, is one of the best ways to improve SEO results. Only companies in the digital marketing world know which tactics will work best for a specific business — so if you’re looking to improve your SEO, consider hiring an SEO company to break down your needs and wants to form an SEO plan that will give you real results.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

Technology is changing the way businesses function in an increasingly globalized society. From productivity and project management platforms to new ways of performing old tasks, the tech sector is having a positive impact on businesses in a variety of verticals. Still, just because tech is making companies’ lives easier, that doesn’t mean these new platforms can be rolled out without training. For example, cloud based call center software is inherently powerful, but requires an onboarding process to fully tap into its potential. The same can be said for the business intelligence and analytics platform, Tableau. Tableau has been adopted throughout Chicago, thanks to its utility for individuals, teams, and companies alike. If your business has just adopted Tableau as its analytics solution, you’ll likely want to find a class to provide Tableau training in Chicago. One of the leaders in Tableau training is Accelebrate, which brings insight and education to corporations throughout the city. Here’s what to expect from such a training session.

Get on-site training in Chicago

Accelebrate’s Tableau training is designed with both busy corporations and small businesses in mind. Their training has catered to businesses of all sizes and industries throughout Illinois, including Oak Park, Chicago, Bloomington, and Lake Forest. Some small businesses will be able to find time in their schedules to attend on-site training, while other companies may choose to learn more about Tableau through online courses and instruction. Accelebrate caters to both crowds, offering options to fit all schedules and mediums. For example, your company may choose a two-day introductory course if you’ve only recently adopted Tableau as your business intelligence platform. Conversely, if your company is just interested in learning some of the deeper functionalities of Tableau, it may make more sense to take a two-day advanced course to cover more complex tasks. Businesses interested in a comprehensive approach to the platform can combine the introductory and advanced courses for a four-day experience. Best of all, the team from Accelebrate comes to you.

Tableau is powerful, yet complex

Tableau has a host of features and products to offer small businesses throughout the Chicago area. Data management, server management, mobile applications, and embedded analytics are all possible with Tableau. In all of these arenas, Tableau’s focus remains on helping people better understand and visualize data. This has applications in a wide range of industries, including health care, education, IT, marketing, insurance, and even state and federal government. To interface with so many different industries, Tableau comes with some inherent complexity. However, just because a piece of software is complex, that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be used. In actuality, Tableau’s complexity is a result of its power. From structuring and laying out data in Tableau Prep to harnessing R statistical programming techniques to power visualizations, there is a lot to learn about Tableau. With the right training, your business will be able to get up to speed in no time at all.

Tableau has wide-ranging applications for industries throughout Chicago. If your business deals with data, it can use Tableau. From providing important context to funders to helping inform future marketing campaigns, the benefits of Tableau are far-reaching and cross-departmental. Tableau can help usher in new levels of productivity and collaboration within your business, as long as you know how to properly use the software platform. If your company is at first overwhelmed by the options and features offered by this software, don’t worry. With on-site training in your workplace from Accelebrate, your small business will be ready to take its data operations to the next level.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

Every company big or small must be aware of what threats exist to their business and how to avoid them, including the threat of crime. If we own a store then we ensure that it is locked down, alarmed and has cameras, in order to ward of thieves. This is something which is generally accepted but something which is not focused on anywhere near enough is cybersecurity. My friend Bharat Bhise HNA has been working in this industry all of his career and the tales he tells me about those who have been attacked are starting. People like Bharat understand the importance of cybersecurity which is why he works with so many businesses on this topic, and if you have a business here is why you should listen to people like him.

Reputation

A good reputation can take many years to earn, and it can all disappear in a heartbeat, especially if there is a dat breach in your company. Businesses store huge amounts of data on their computer systems including private customer and employee data which must not fall into the wrong hands. If a customer has trusted your business with their personal information they expect you to take care of it, failure to do so will destroy your reputation and make it very difficult for you to bounce back.

Cost

Most business owners scrutinize every cent which is spent for the business, and rightfully so, which is why a cyberattack is not something which you want to happen to you. Beyond the lost sales and tarnished reputation which you can count on, you will also incur huge costs as a result of the breach. Reparation of hardware and software, beefing up cybersecurity measures, not to mention lost time and sales, a cyberattack is a costly affair indeed. Small businesses need to understand this too, especially given that the costs of an attack could cause massive damage to the company.

Regulations

Slowly but surely we are seeing much tighter regulations when it comes to a company’s requirements around cybersecurity. The EU have recently passed a bill which puts great pressure on businesses to ensure that they have a strong level of cybersecurity, in order to best protect the personal and private information of their staff and clients. This is just the beginning of tighter regulations around this threat, and in the future we will definitely see it become mandatory for businesses to offer a certain level of cybersecurity to their customers.

It Happens

Hacking isn’t some fantasy idea of nerdy boys in their room trying to get into the NASA database, these threats are very real and they happen on a daily basis. Hackers are incredibly sophisticated and they will target just about any type of business. Sometimes they’ll attack to send a message, other times it may be to steal information, either way you need to understand that it does happen and it most certainly could happen to you and your business.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

Two years ago my business took the plunge and made the decision to get a great PR firm on board to help us to reach our business goals. After many meetings we eventually settled on the amazing team at Interdependence PR, who have given our business a new lease of life since they have come on board. Before we got to this brilliant team however we had to sit through so many meetings as we were trying to find the very best which met our needs. As such we have learned exactly what to look out for during a meeting with a PR firm and what to focus on during such a meeting. If you are looking for a PR firm then here is what you should be looking to focus on during the meeting.

Quality of Service

It is amazing how many of those companies who we met with had poor customer service skills and this was a real red flag early on in many meetings. I don’t know the reason behind this but it is important to remember that they are operating in a service industry and as such you should expect to receive a warm welcome and a high level of service. If you don’t feel this then it should set off alarm bells about what else the company may shirk on.

Market Knowledge

A public relations firm which is at the top of their game in the tech industry is not going to be able to give the same quality of results if they are operating in finance or manufacturing. You need a public relations company which knows your market and which understands how that market works and how to speak to those within it. Each market is very different and when it comes to the things that the PR company is going to be doing for you, it is even more important that they grasp it.

Transparency

An experience which we had many times was this attitude of ‘don’t worry we’ll take care of it’ when it came to understanding how and on what the company were going to spend our money. You deserve to have absolute transparency from a PR firm and given that it is your cash, you also need to know where it is going to go. The companies I met with may well have handled their business but as a paying customer I had the right to know what their strategy was to achieve the goals that we were aiming for. If they cannot be transparent then it gives off an air that they don’t really know what they are going to do just yet, but they’ll figure it out. This of course is not what a business wants to hear when they are trying to find a service who will be acting as their mouthpiece.

From my experience these were the key things which I learned to focus on when meeting with a PR firm.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

Kelly Curia-Schmidt has dedicated her life to helping others reach their business potential and she is someone who is very successful at what she does. Kelly is also a very good friend of mine who has helped me in my own business endeavors over the years, with varying levels of success, but that isn’t something that she can be blamed for, far from it. I get a lot of people asking me about business tips and what they need to know before launching a business, and so I asked Kelly to give me a hand with some of those answers.

Do You Care Enough?

Something which so many people do is to launch a business because they want to make money, or because they want to be a business owner, yet they fail to launch a business in a nice or an industry which they actually care about. If you do not have a real passion for the business which you are going to launch then you are not going to do well, or at least success, real success is going to be unlikely. Those who create businesses based on their passion are far more likely to find better levels of success.

Do You Know Your Market?

Creating a killer product is one thing but if you don’t know your market then you are not going to get very far. You need to invest time in researching who your competitors are, what the customer trends are right now, how you are going to fit into the market and what you are going to bring that is different from what is out there already. You also need to look at which businesses are successful and why, what did they do which got them to where they are. You need to know how much money is in your market and what you can do to meet with what the customer wants in order to get it.

Do You Have a Plan?

It may sound basic but many businesses fail to have a long term plan before they launch. The reason why a long term plan is essential is because this is what you will use to dictate your decisions and your actions going forward. What are you looking to achieve from your business and how do you plan on getting it? Basic stuff but essential nonetheless.

Finances

The single most common reason why businesses fail is that they poorly manage their finances, what plan do you have in place to avoid this happening to you? This is a really crucial aspect of the business and whilst it is of course important to ensure that you have enough caput behind you to launch your business, you also need to ensure that you have a robust plan in place which will help you manage the finances well once your business is launched.

The key to success is in the preparation process.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.

 

You need an SEO firm to help boost the popularity of your company. You can’t deal with all the details alone. SEO involves lots of complex processes and it would be great to have expert help in doing the job.

You will find lots of SEO companies presenting themselves as the perfect choice. These are the qualities to consider as you check the best options.

Longevity 

You need an SEO firm that has been around for a long time. It indicates that the company is doing a great job. It wouldn’t have lasted long if it had failed to satisfy the clients. Given the fast-paced world of SEO, it’s also crucial that they change their strategies to benefit the clients. Their experience in the business could be useful if you decide to partner with them.

Diverse strategies

Some SEO strategies work while others fall flat. Therefore, it helps to have a firm by your side with diverse strategies. It means that even if some of them failed or didn’t reach your goals, it’s okay. You can still survive and continue your relevance in the online competition.

Regularly provides updates

You need a firm that tells you if the strategies used worked in your favor. You can’t remain blind about what they’re doing. There needs to be a clear standard so that you can tell if you have to continue the same strategies. If not, it might be time to change what you’re doing. You can also tell the firm to come up with more creative ways to help boost your business since they’re tools aren’t moving anything at all.

Patient 

Since you’re the client, you might have demands to ensure that your business remains popular. You might even complain at times because you’re not getting what you want. Despite that, you need to have a firm that remains patient when dealing with you. Another factor is your creative difference. You might have a different view on how to move the company forward. The firm also has a different idea. You need them to be patient with you so that everything will end well.

Affordable 

You have to spend money to boost your marketing campaigns. However, you have lots of other things to consider. As such, it would be great if you have a firm that offers affordable services. Despite the cost, you still hope to receive the kind of services you deserve.

After checking out these qualities, you can determine which firm to partner with. You can test them first and decide if you will pursue further transactions. If you’re happy with what you’re getting, you can keep collaborating; otherwise, there are other local SEO Miami firms available.

The goal is to look for the right SEO firm since you have to boost your online presence. You can’t be behind your competitors since it’s a tough world out there. Your business could get affected if you fail to match the others in online campaigns.

To read more on topics like this, check out the business category.