Category: Contributed Posts

Investing For Profit: A Beginner’s Guide

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. While some people are fortunate to learn about the world of investing at a young age, many people don’t learn about it until much later in life, if at all. It’s a large, dynamic and ever shifting world and can be overwhelming for novices. It’s thus important to know where to start and be patient early on. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Investing For Profit: A Beginner’s Guide.

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There are many ways that you can generate income in this world, including working for a salary and starting your own business. However, one way that you should always consider is investing the money you have in order to grow it. Of course, this is a complicated and sometimes confusing field to get involved in, and that is why I have devised the beginners guide below to help you negotiate it. Read on to find out more.

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Do think of investing as a way of making your money work harder for you.

Firstly, before you get anywhere near choosing where about to put your money, it’s crucial that you grasp the central idea behind investing. In fact, investing is all about putting your money to work for you rather than just letting it sit there. The ultimate goal being that it makes more than just a basic interest account would provide.

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However, it is worth knowing that interest accounts especially those designed for high-level earners can off a fairly decent return on your money with only a minimal risk. Something that makes them much more suitable for those that are not prepared to gamble with their hard earned wages, but still want to make a profit on the money they already have in the bank.

Don’t ever forget about risk.

The next issue to be concerned with when it comes to investing is risk, as mentioned above. This is the other side the coin that you need to consider whenever you make an investment, as there is no such thing as a sure thing!

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What this means is that while you could make a fantastic return on the money you invest, you could also lose all of that money as well. Something that can be further complicated if you get into a situation where you are racking up credit in order to make investments.

To that end, the potential risk in each investment situation need to be calculated accurately, and a cost-benefit analysis needs to be performed to check that the risk is worth the benefit that it could return.

Of course, it is essential to realize that the value of a potential risk will be mean more to some people than it will to others, and it’s not just by the financial value that you can establish this. In fact, for a billionaire, a $100,000 loss would be upsetting, but for a family whose only assets are total $100,000, it could be utterly devastating and ultimately lead to their bankruptcy. The message here being that it is wise never to invest more than you can comfortably afford to lose.

However, in this section is it also worth highlighting that it is the element of risk that provides the opportunity for investment in the first place. After all, if there were no gamble, investors would be needed to stump up the finance. What this means is that it is often the case that the higher the risk, the higher the rewards that can be expected. Of course, that also means for those that are in a stable enough financial position to take those risks, that they can be well worth it regarding return on their initial investment.

Do consider all the different types of investments.

Next, when it comes to making money from your investments is crucial that you consider all the options that are on offer.

What this means is that you think about investing not only in the stock market and financial products but also in things like property as well. In fact, many investors prefer to put their money in property because unlike investing in the stock market, they actually have a physical assets that they gain ownership of, something that provides a greater sense of security.

Sadly, navigating the property investment market can be as complicated as finding your way in with stocks and shares. In particular, deciding on the right type of investment return can be problematic. This is because many investors do not know whether to buy a property with a view to renovating it and then selling it at a profit, or as a let to buy.

Of course, both have disadvantage and advantages that could affect the return you see on your property investment. In particular, choosing from one of the many houses for sale overseas may provide you with a prime opportunity for buy to let, especially if there are in popular vacation spots, or cities. This is because you will be more likely to have potential renters all year round, something that can ensure a high and regular yield on your initial investment.

However, for investors looking to make a substantial sum more quickly, it can be better to flip a property instead, something that can happen over a shorter period of time, and free up more capital faster. Capital that can then reinvested with the aim of making an additional profit in the property or other investment sectors.

Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket.

While not putting all of you eggs in one basket may be old wisdom that you grew up hearing, it doesn’t mean that it is any less relevant to the field of investing. In fact, its excellent advice and what it translates to here is the value of diversifying your portfolio.

What this means is that its bad practice to put all of your investment capital into a single stock, company, field, or even market. This is because if that particular investment fails you will lose all of your money and have none left over.

Instead, if you diversify your portfolio across different products and fields, even if an entire market crashes you should be left with some investments of value. Something that can help you minimize any losses, and so make your chances of making a profit over the long term much higher.

Do join up with others.

No person is an island, and this is the case, even when it comes to investing. In fact, there are services out there that make pooling your money with other investors much easier now, including peer lending platforms and investment cooperatives.

Of course, the benefits of doing this is that, while still only putting up a relatively small amount you can gain the benefits of making a large scale investment. Something that can help to increase your percentage profits significantly.

Although, it is worth ensuring that you have an excellent grasp of the legal side of things when pooling your money with others. Otherwise, you can end up getting the short end of the stick, and this can negatively affect the return you can expect from your investment.

Don’t listen to hot tips.

Finally, when it comes to investing in any field, be it property, the day trading arena, stock and shares, cryptocurrency or peer lending, there really is no such thing as a sure thing! This is crucial to remember because any sources online, or otherwise that specific stock and companies to invest in usually have a vested interested somewhere down the line.

In fact, many hot tips are actually trading scams including pumping and dumping schemes in disguise. This is a process where hot tops are given out to raise the share price just enough for the initial buyer to make a profit when they sell. This then leaves the rest of the investors with hard to move shares, this naturally being something that you will want to avoid if you are looking to make a profit through investing.

Keep Your Business From Ongoing Disruption

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When you’re running a business of any kind, it’s important to understand how to prevent disruptions and also how to get your operations back up and running once there has been a disruption. The following contributed post is entitled, Keep Your Business From Ongoing Disruption.

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To keep a business moving at the right pace and in the right way takes a lot of effort in different areas. One of the bigger concern you are likely to have here is that you will probably need to try and find a way to ensure that your business is not being disrupted along the way. That can be hard to do, but as long as you know where to look and what kind of steps you need to take, you should find that it is also a lot easier than you might have thought. In this post, we are going to take a look at some of the ways in which you can hope to keep your business from any ongoing disruption, by paying attention in particular to a few key areas and how they are functioning on a daily basis.

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Outsourced Partners

One thing you will need to pay particular attention to is the activity and behaviour of any outsource teams you might have on board in your business. Because of the nature of outsourcing, you never quite know whether or not they are going to help or hinder you, and in many cases even if they are helping you on the whole, they can still be causing disruption and distractions at the same time too. It is therefore wise to make sure that you keep an eye on what they are doing, but what does this mean practically? It might be that you want to utilise something like the servicenow vendor risk management to ensure that you are not having to take on any unacceptable losses or risk from outsource IT firms, or it could be a simple case of making sure that you thoroughly vet any outsource firms before agreeing to contract them with work.

Rogue Employees

Although it is not quite as common, it is still always a possibility too for certain people in your own employment to make things difficult for the business. This is the kind of situation that you will generally want to do away with as soon as possible, but as long as you are keeping a close eye on those who work for you, you should be able to spot such individuals pretty swiftly anyway. If you do get a feeling that there are some individuals not really pulling their weight and causing a nuisance, then you should make sure to follow it up with a particular disciplinary routine, which you should already have set out as much as possible.

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Marketplace Variations

Clearly, this is an area in which you have much less control than the above two example, but it is still something you will want to look out for. You will at least then be able to know why your business is experiencing disruption, and that will mean that you can hone in and ensure that your business gets back on track as soon as possible, despite what might be happening in the marketplace outside it.

10 Ways to 10x Your Productivity

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, it’s important to be able to get the most out of yourself and your abilities. While important, it’s not something that obvious to everyone. The following contributed post is thus entitled, 10 Ways to 10x Your Productivity.

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We’re all looking to squeeze more from our lives, yet we are limited to only having a certain number of hours in each day. Therefore, we need to find ways to get more done in less time.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at ten great ways to boost your productivity this year.

1. FIND OUT WHEN IS BEST TO WORK FOR YOU
We all have our own inner rhythm when it comes to the best time of day for us to work, for instance, many creative people find that working through the early hours of the morning can be the most productive time for them, whilst for most people, the early morning tends to be their most productive time as their brain is refreshed and their body is re-energised.

You need to work out when you are at your most productive, and focus on building a schedule around your natural rhythm rather than trying to adjust your natural rhythm, which can feel like a very difficult uphill struggle, at the end of the day.

2. WORK IN MORE LIGHT
One of the most vital components of creating a focused work environment is that of natural light, as the lighter a room tends to be, the more easy it tends to be to focus on the task at hand. Therefore, if you’re used to sitting down to work in a dark room, you’re setting yourself up for an uphill struggle.

Get somewhere with an abundance of natural light, or even artificial light, at worst case; just think of how much clear and productive people tend to feel when walking around an art gallery – in parts its the decluttered nature of galleries, but another large part of this is the fact there is so much light bounced around the space due to the white walls and lighting setup.

3. WORK IN SPRINTS
If you think of how much more calories people burn in high intensity interval training, where they might go flat out for twenty seconds, then rest for ten, and then go again – the same is true when it comes to focusing on your work. There are many advantages of the rotating shift, for the same reason, and you want to try to adopt this approach to your own work.

Focus in short bursts, rather than for long blocks of time, using something known as the pomodoro technique in order to ensure you maximise the maximum output when working.

4. USE THE PARETO PRINCIPLE
The Pareto Principle talks about how 20% of your activities will tend to account for 80% of your outcome… meaning, there will be just a few tasks or activities on your to do list that will have a massive impact on how much you achieve. Therefore, you want to prioritise those tasks and focus 80% of your energy on the 20% of tasks that will get you the most results.

5. USE LISTS
The world’s most successful people tend to use lists for everything. There are a wide variety of apps available to help with this, such as Wunderlist, that can help you keep track of your most important tasks. There’s something psychologically rewarding about ticking items off of your to-do list as this builds momentum, in that if you’ve ticked 3 out of 5 of your items off that list for the day, then you feel very motivated to get the other two finished.

6. DON’T TRY TO DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF
Whether in business, or your personal life, try to avoid the temptation to feel like you need to do everything yourself. Try not to overstretch yourself by taking on too many tasks and be sure to outsource low value but high time tasks, for instance, cleaning, to a supportive network of people that help ensure you get more done.

7. TAKE A VACATION
It’s really important to take a vacation from time to time, and have weekends, as so many people feel the need to work through their weekends and like they don’t have the time to take a vacation – yet, actually, the productivity benefits of having some down time are absolutely massive. Think of how even the fittest of boxers still require rests between rounds, and it’s only as a result of having that rest, that they can keep going – and come back stronger.

You need to allow yourself time to rest, and time away from your work, therefore taking a vacation from time to time and ensuring you use your weekends, are great ways to improve your productivity.

8. WORK WHEN YOU WORK
You want to be ensuring you “work when you work” meaning, when you sit down to work your focus is 100% on the task at hand – you don’t have the TV on in the background, or kids playing around your home office. You have a one track mind, in terms of the focus you have for your task – and this idea of working when you work means you can also “play when you play” or “rest when you rest”.

Too many people today are trying to cram too much into their lives, all at once – trying to balance multiple things all at the same time. The most productive way you can go about any task, is to sit and focus on it, in a very single minded manner.

9. CHUNK IT DOWN
Sometimes, we spend so much time fretting about how to approach something, that we never get started. For instance, let’s say you feel overwhelmed by having to write a big report – the first thing you want to do, is to break it down into headings and subheadings so that you can then start to fill in the gaps. Therefore, the first thing you want to do when dealing with a big task is to create the structural framework so that you can then go about filling in the gaps.

10. GET UP EARLIER
This one might sound incredibly simple, but get up an hour earlier, and use this hour to get your most important tasks done. It will skyrocket your productivity levels.

11 Ways To Make Money Outside Of Your 9-5

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. There’s an argument out there that the smartest way to live is to have multiple sources of income. As such, many individuals have given a lot of thought to how they can create second- or third-income streams outside of their 9-5 jobs. The following contributed post discusses how to create multiple income streams and is entitled, 11 Ways To Make Money Outside Of Your 9-5.

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Making money by going to your 9-5 job every week is certainly an honorable way to earn money. However, more and more people are beginning to realize that if they want to lead truly comfortable lifestyles and build wealth, they are going to need more than one source of income to do it. In fact, the most wealthy people in the world often have 6 or 7 different sources of income. The less you have to rely on one source of income, the better!

Below, we’ll go into 11 ways you can make money outside of your 9-5 so you can begin working on bringing in cash from various sources:

1. Rent Out A Part Of Your Property
If you have a property and you don’t use all of it all the time, you could consider renting out a part of it. Even renting out your driveway could help you to bring some extra cash in from time to time! If you have a spare bedroom you could rent that out, provided you don’t mind sharing your home with somebody else. Alternatively, you could look into a site like Airbnb to rent out your entire home when you’re going to be away yourself. You could make money while you’re off on your own vacation!

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2. Sell Things You No Longer Use
Go through each room in your home and collect things that you haven’t used for 6 months or more. Usually, if you haven’t used something in 6 months you can pretty much guarantee you won’t use it again (unless it’s some special item that you only really need for emergencies, that is). You can use sites like eBay to sell these items and make some extra cash. If you’d rather cut out the middleman costs, selling on Facebook or even hosting a garage sale can be just as effective.

3. Offer Your Services As An Online Freelancer
If you have a little spare time, you could always offer your services as a freelancer using sites like Upwork and People Per Hour. You could proofread, write content, design logos, or do anything else that you think you’re good at! It can take a little time to get work when you’re just starting out, but it can be a nice way to make a decent side income in your own time.

4. Start Blogging/Vlogging
Blogging and vlogging should be done first and foremost because you are passionate about what you want to share. If you’re doing it purely for the cash, you’ll probably get fed up and end up giving up after a short time! You should create quality, consistent content because you have a message you want to share and you enjoy it. Enjoyment will keep you going when your subscribers aren’t growing and you’ve made a miniscule amount of money in months. Consistency is key if you want this to be a way for you to make money!

5. Turn Your Passion Into A Side Hustle
If you have something you’re truly passionate about, it could be possible to turn it into a side hustle. Maybe you like making jewelry or reupholstering furniture; if you’re serious, you could spend your spare time building up this business. Eventually, you may be able to leave your 9-5 job and work for yourself. However, you’ll want to make sure you’re aware of the reasons most new businesses fail. It won’t be easy, and you’ll still need to work hard in the beginning. You really have to love it and you really have to want it!

6. Investing
Investing can sound like a scary word, especially to beginners who have only ever put their spare cash into savings accounts. However, it’s essential if you want to ensure your financial health for the future and give yourself a chance at being truly wealthy! There’s a plethora of information out there that can help you to get started, and you only need to start small. You can even find apps like Moneybox to help you get started. The important thing is getting started and committing a portion of your earnings to investing regularly – then you’ll build up momentum and be able to learn as you go along. You’ll be glad you started now. The earlier you start, the more you can take advantage of compounding!

7. Smart Spending
Smart spending can sometimes be all it takes to help you make money outside of your 9-5. There are numerous ways you can do this. For example, by making sure you buy items that will enable you to make more money in the long run, like Disney DVDs that become more valuable once they are taken off the shelves (rather than items that lose value, like brand new cars). You can also spend smartly by using cashback sites when you buy, and you should be able to get a portion of what you spend back each time. Then you can try smart spending alongside the NFL betting guide or make a sports bet with any online site that gives you the opportunity to bet on real or imaginary games. Be warned about betting, however. Using this method comes with an element of risk that you should keep in mind, and you should be wary of if you have a gambling problem. However, if you are able to monitor your spending, you could win big if you bet wisely.

8. Create Online Courses
If you have a lot of knowledge and/or passion on a certain subject, how about creating online courses to help others learn? You can create courses about just about anything these days, and the great thing is, you only have to do the work once. The courses can sell again and again and you will continue to make money!

9. Write Ebooks
Ebooks can help you to make cash if you do some keyword research and figure out what people want to know about. Both fiction and non-fiction are an option, although you may need to write lots of ebooks to make a decent sum of money.

10. Start Your Own Ecommerce Business
Ecommerce businesses are extremely popular, and for good reason. Pretty much anybody can set one up using sites like Shopify, selling items that they feel passionate about.

11. Advertise On Your Car
There are companies that will pay you to have an advertisement for their business on your car. All you have to do is fill out a form stating where you drive and how much you drive, and any suitable offers will then be sent to you. The company will remove the ad when the campaign is complete and you will get paid. Easy!

Help Yourself To Help Recruit The Best Talent To Your Team

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One of the most powerful things you can do for your operations is to hire the right talent to work for you. Identifying the right talent isn’t easy and separates the successful from the unsuccessful business. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Help Yourself To Help Recruit The Best Talent To Your Team.

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Hiring the right people for your business, and then holding onto the right talent has not been tougher than it is now. With an aging population, in the coming years there aren’t going to be enough younger people (nine percent down), coming into the workforce to replace those retiring. So if someone did leave your business, it could be hard to replace them. Plus, when you recruit the right people, it really is what makes your business. They are the ones that are out there each day working to make the business a profitable one. So for many reasons, getting the right talent for your business and then doing enough to hold onto them is exactly what you want.

So with all of that in mind, here are some tips to help you to create a great workplace culture that will attract people to your role, as well as how to keep them wanting to work for you.

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• Put Employees First

There has been plenty of research that has shown that if you want to recruit and keep the right people for the job, then you need to create a culture within your business that makes people want to work there. This doesn’t always have to mean things like the Google offices or give them slides instead of stairs. But your employees need to feel respected and valued at all times. Show this through how you conduct yourself, but also how you are interacting with others.

• Provide Training

If you are interviewing people, then being able to demonstrate what they can look forward to, and the different ways in which they can work their way up in the business. Talking about the training that you can offer is a good way to recruit the right people and those looking for longevity in their career within your business. But apart from that, there are so many other reasons why providing training is really important for your team. Take the threat of social engineering to businesses, for example. There are many threats online to businesses, and you are likely to have some aspects of your business online. But the human aspect of hacking is where businesses can fail. Social engineering, or things like phishing, is where problems could occur. So training your team for things like this can help the business to keep thriving, and in turn, help their career to carry on.

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• Use Emotional Intelligence

One of the worst things that a small business can do when it comes to recruiting is disengaging with the hiring process. You can see why it isn’t going to be a good thing for your business, as when it is your business, why wouldn’t you want to be involved with the recruiting and let someone else do the recruiting for you?

Part of the process of recruiting should look at the employee’s emotional intelligence as well their skills, experience, and their intellectual capability. Studies have shown that IQ alone isn’t enough to show how well someone is going to do in a job. You need to look at their emotional intelligence as well and how they react in certain social situations. So as part of the recruitment process, don’t use qualifications alone. You could look to add in an emotional intelligence evaluation so that you can see how well they are going to fit into your business. The better they fit in, the more they are going to enjoy coming to work, and hopefully, the more they are going to want to stay working with you.

Being able to be flexible in the recruitment process is really important too. If you hire someone and it is working out well and they are fitting in well, but could be better suited to a different department, then move them around to other roles. Then they can experience more and it is likely to lead to longevity with your business if they can experience a variety of different things. This is because if you find someone that fits well with your company, you will want to find the right role for them that is going to help them to stick with you.

Communication is really key and it can make the difference, so make sure you are talking to your employees about what they want to be doing and where they see themselves in the years to come. There are no guarantees in life and business, of course, but putting in the effort with employees can really help.

What Could You Outsource In Your Business?

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Depending upon the time of business you’re running and its stage of development, outsourcing parts of its operations may be the way to grow to take it to the next level. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, What Could You Outsource In Your Business?

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If you’re a business owner, you will be familiar with the idea of outsourcing. Whilst some people aren’t too fond of the idea, as it can take away some of your control as a boss, there are many benefits of outsourcing, and it can save you a lot of time and money. When it comes to handing over some of your work to those outside the office, there are many different services out there, and outsourcing is an ever-evolving market. If you’re interested in the services that could help you and your business, read on, as we have brought together some of the best examples here.

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Your website creation

Coding and updating your own website can be a difficult task for any business, especially if you don’t have the skills and experience to do these things yourself. Whilst you may think that going DIY is a good way for you to save a bit of money, your website is where all of your clients will go for information about your business, and if it isn’t up to scratch, they may question your professionalism and ability to do the job right. You only have one shot to make a good impression on people who are thinking of using your services, so ensure that it is perfect and outsource it to people who know all there is to know about website creation and coding, and you’ll be glad that you did.

Your IT services

When you think about how much time your employees spend on their computers, you’ll realise how catastrophic it could be if any problems occur with your IT. If your IT usually runs smoothly, and as such, you don’t need to employ somebody full-time to stay on top of it, you could benefit financially by outsourcing these services. Most IT companies will offer 24 hour support, so if any problems arise, they can be rectified straight away. They will also know about all of the latest software, and will usually implement these without even having to pay a visit to your office. If you want your company computers to run smoothly with little stress and low costs, look into these options.

Your phone calls

As a business owner, you’ll know how many phone calls you can receive each day, and it can be difficult to stay on top of all the other tasks that you have to do whilst constantly being interrupted by calls from clients. Of course, it is fundamental that you stay on top of these things, but you could benefit from outsourcing them to a different company. There are many virtual headquarters out there who can take your calls for you, answer them with the responses that you have provided, and forward the important messages directly on to you. This can save you a lot of money, as you won’t have to hire someone on a full-time basis to answer all of your calls.

Your payroll

Paying your employees, particularly if you have a large team, can take up a lot of your time, especially if you pay them weekly. Sitting there and going through all of the hours that people have worked can take up a lot of hours that you simply don’t have to give, so outsourcing may be a better alternative to keeping your payroll in-house. You also have to try and navigate the world of taxes and the regulations that come with paying your employees, which can be another stress that you really don’t need as a business owner. As with the other forms of outsourcing, this will help you to save the cash by avoiding the need to have a team member dealing with these issues.

So…

If you’re interested in the world of outsourcing, some of these services could help you to spend less as a business, and will save you and your employees a lot of time. You can stick to focusing on the things that really matter, and leave these difficult tasks to the professionals, so that you can get on with the more important duties that you have. From outsourcing your website creation to getting somebody else to answer your phone calls, there are plenty of services out there if you’re interested in saying goodbye to the mundane, and hello to business success with the help of some other companies. You’ll be glad that you did when you see the savings that you have as a result!

Try these different ways of outsourcing, and see how they could help you to achieve the business you’ve always dreamed of!

The Two Most Common Ways Of Beginner Trading

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. A part of being financially literate is understanding how to invest. One way to do so is ‘trading’, which some also interestingly consider to be something different than investing. If you’re interested in trading, the following contributed post is entitled, The Two Most Common Ways Of Beginner Trading.

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Many people shut themselves off from various opportunities to do something new with their life, by convincing themselves they will fail. Not only is this a self-esteem issue but it’s a lack of knowledge too. If you understand something, you’re more likely to feel comfortable doing it. More and more people are realizing that they have been lead astray by all the cultural entertainment content around and for the trading industry. Not everyone who trades stocks is some kind of wizard, that lives fast and has a very intense work schedule. Far from what you see on screen, trading is accessible and easy to understand for everyone. If were only a few people trading, then there wouldn’t be much of an economy to talk about. The great thing about modern and fluid economies is that anyone can trade whatever they want. Here are the two most common kinds of trading that all beginners should grasp first.

Penny stocks

As you can probably tell by the name of this kind of trading, you’re trading stocks of companies that are just getting off the ground. Their stock prices are in the pennies range, but not all the time. It’s just a general title that this kind of trading is given. Sometimes you have stocks that are worth several dollars so don’t think you need to bust the piggy bank of change to begin. It’s quite simple trading in fact. You buy these stocks from companies that looks promising. That’s the entire game of it all, looking for companies that look like they are going to be successful. It’s so simple that anyone can play. All that you need to do to turn over a profit is to research companies carefully, see what they provide and what is going to turn them into success stories. This could be done by visiting their website, inspecting their product line and comparing their services to rival companies. Then gradually their stock prices will rise until you turn over a massive profit.

Over and done by the day

Day trading is fast and simple. You are merely buying stocks when the trading day begins and all your positions are alleviated by the end of the day. You will hold nothing when the final bell rings at the end of the trading time, which makes day trading exciting but also easy to understand. Things like the best volume indicator for day trading can help you to understand how you should strategize. Some markets are fractal, meaning that usually there are big names and small names giving you a clear indication of where cheap and expensive stocks are. You should look into the gap risk to see what kind of hurdles you might need to jump as you begin day trading. Sometimes the risks can be sudden and high but to have drastic actions happen in the market in just one day is actually, quite predictable.

No one should be afraid of getting into trading and making some money on the side or perhaps making it your full time career. Penny stocks are those little flutters of hope that can turn out to be huge piles of cash.

The Curse Of The One-Time Customer

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Repeat customers are the lifeblood of all businesses, and it’s critical to understand to have your customers return to your establishment time and again. The following contributed post is thus entitled, The Curse Of The One-Time Customer.

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Repeat customers are crucial in business. They’re the most profitable customers you could hope for. They’re also most likely to promote you through word of mouth. If sites like www.bizjournals.com are anything to go by, customers who have been with you before are also liable to spend more.

Sadly, this isn’t a goal every business manages. In the starting stages especially, it isn’t unusual for sales to be a one-time thing. This is disheartening as it means continuing to spend a fortune on marketing at a time when every penny counts. But, this vicious cycle needn’t become your business reality. In truth, a trend in one-time buyers is often due to a few rookie mistakes. To ensure you don’t make them, we’re going to look at what they are, and how you can avoid them.

Too little follow up

Following up sales is crucial. At the very least, it helps you to collect reviews which show what you do right, and what you do wrong. From a repeat-custom standpoint, it’s also a fantastic way to remind customers you exist. Those first few customers might be a massive part of your business journey, but you’re just another company. The chances are that your shop was far from the only one they bought from that day. If you aren’t careful, then, you could fall off their radar even if they like what they got. By sending a review email, you nudge them into thinking about you again. All without having to outwardly advertise to them at all. With a bit of luck, that alone will get them back on your website looking for more.

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Too much follow up

In the same breath, too much follow up from a company is sure to be off-putting. As a rule, one email should be enough to cover you here. If you send more than that, you’re soon going to become a nuisance. Note, too, that even companies who only intend to send one email can often end up sending more. That’s because they haven’t dealt with a little something called data management. If your customer information is all over the place, customers may end up on more email lists than they should. This could result in a bombardment which ensures they never buy from you again. Don’t let it happen. Learn to manage customer data with the help of companies like profisee.com. That way, you can automate one follow up email and rest easy that it’s the only one which lands in your customer’s inboxes.

A stagnant business model

If a customer buys a product from you, there’s little chance that they’ll want to buy that same product again. At least, in the majority of cases. That’s why a business model which stagnates is never going to get people coming back. Instead, you need to think all the time about where to take your business next. The more developments you offer, the more opportunity there’ll be for repeat custom and increased success in the long-run.

Think Strategically About Remodeling Your Business Space

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Your business concept/idea is important but your business space is as well. The following contributed post discusses important considerations for your business space and is entitled, Think Strategically About Remodeling Your Business Space.

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Picture by Laurie Shaw

Choosing to remodel the building or space where your business is based is on the plus side exciting, on the other hand, it can be quite an overwhelming task to behold. Unless you work in construction or have experience in the trade, knowing where to begin, what to do and how much it’s all going to cost may leave you feeling baffled.
To remodel your business space with confidence, take on board the below tips to think strategically when creating a plan of action to give your business space remodeling some much-needed structure.

Purpose Of Remodelling

Before you begin brainstorming ideas of what you would like to change in your business space, it’s firstly necessary to consider why you want the remodeling to take place. In doing so, you will have a purpose and an end goal to work towards. The leading causes owners tend to remodel are mainly due to the following;

• To take responsibility for repairs and replace old electric and pipe systems
• To adhere to health and safety regulations
• To add personality to your office in line with your brand
• To entice clients to your business
• To update or refresh tired, shabby decor
• To change the design of the office, e.g. to open plan
• To generate new departments as the company functions and processes change
• To improve employee productivity at work by creating an aesthetically pleasing environment
• To launch a new business image

The purpose you choose for changing your business space might include a few of the above. If so, note each point down and refer to this during the remodeling process to ensure you don’t deviate from the objective.

Budget-Friendly Ideas And Next Steps

With the aim confirmed, it’s now time to brainstorm ideas and solutions to meet this goal. This will be directly linked to your chosen purpose(s). For instance, if it’s a new office image to represent a new brand you seek, with an open office plan space and an environment that increases productivity for you and your employees, your ideas will be linked with this objective in mind. This could mean;

Idea – Knocking down any existing walls within the business space, bar toilet, and staff rooms.

Next Steps – Checking whether there are any load bearing walls or walls that have electrical wires and pipes running through. To obtain quotes from a few handymen to assess the work.

Idea – To replace the existing flooring for durable, hard-wearing, modern flooring, such as concrete.

Next Steps – This is a task that would logically take place after knocking the walls down. You would need a professional such as a concrete contractor, R&M concrete to assess whether the flooring you require is possible in your building and a quote for how much it will cost.

The remodelling plans for your business space should be thought through to assess if the work is both practically possible and affordable. If for instance, the ideas you devise are not cost-effective regarding the budget you have, you will need to think of alternative approaches to reach your objective. Solutions to this could be, choosing to remodel at a later date when you have the funds to put your ideas into action or applying for a business loan to put your plan into motion sooner.

How to Use Your Business Acumen To Help a Community

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Running a business isn’t all about making money in some instances. In some cases it’s important to consider how to better the community that your business is based in. The following contributed post is thus entitled, How to Use Your Business Acumen To Help a Community.

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When it comes to running a business, you feel pretty confident about your abilities. You have several successful projects under your belt so far and you’re ready to add even more to your list. You take running your business extremely seriously, so when you think about a company that could genuinely help other people it makes you pretty excited. You want to use your business knowledge and acumen to help a community and create a truly worthwhile venture for once. Instead of being in it for the money, you’re ready to find new ways to make people in your community feel wanted and included.

Build a New Community Centre

One of the first ways in which you can make a difference in your local area, is by building a brand new community centre or church. Perhaps your village was involved in a natural disaster or the pride and joy of the town was destroyed by vandalism. This is the perfect opportunity to contact a church construction company, Daniels Construction and start a brand new project. Even if there is already a building in place, you can expand and reconstruct the current one in whatever way you wish. No matter what type of budget or time scale you are working to, you know you will be able to get the job done with a team of professionals on hand at all times.

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Start a Campaign to Help the Homeless

Now that your new commercial building project is underway, you might be able to start thinking about how you can give back. Why not start up a church group and invite the homeless to meet new people a couple of times a week? There are so many ways that you can give back to the people who are less fortunate than you. A soup kitchen or a career support group is also an excellent idea for your new community centre.

Give Troubles Youths a Chance

If you live in an area where you know there are a whole load of troubled teens, then you might just be able to help them out in life. Offer to give those troubled teens a little responsibility, which will allow some structure in their life. Whether they’re helping to make coffee in the church or cleaning up after an event, their parents will be grateful for you reaching out to those who are truly in need of a helping hand.

So if you have been doing some soul searching recently it’s time to start considering all of your options. Nowadays it can be very tricky to start up a business venture that is really going to have a positive impact on the people around you. Whether you’re building a new community church or you’re trying to volunteer locally, there are so many big ways that you can make a difference in your area. Being a business owner isn’t just about earning respect and making money; it’s about helping the people around you and understanding the importance of giving back.