Chase Credit Card - Start Your Credit Card Experience With Someone You Can Trustrevised

By Erwin Yusuf


Credit Card Company That You Can Trust: Chase

If you are looking for a credit card company to give your business to, but are unsure of which one to choose, then you may want to consider Chase. They are known for being one of the best credit cards around. They make applying for one of their cards very simple and there are no hidden charges.

When you sign up, they will give you all of the information about any charges that they may charge you. They do not have annual fees and offer a 0% interest introductory rate. Also, Chase offers fraud protection, which is a very important thing to have these days.

It is so easy to apply for a Chase credit card. Applying on their website is simple, too. Their website is also a great place to learn more about their credit cards including the interest rates and pictures of each kind of card.

You can also pay your credit card bill online. This is a fast and secure way for you to pay your credit card bill. If you do not have a Chase credit card, but have heard great things about the company, you can sign-up on their website. If you fill out the form correctly, then you could be a Chase member in just a few days.

Chase offers individual accounts and small business accounts. This is great for those of you who are looking for a credit card to start your small business.

Chase credit cards are accepted all over the world, so you do not have to worry about being able to use it on a trip abroad. Chase also gives their customers air miles for every dollar, so you may be able to take a vacation much cheaper than you think.

Recently, Chase has went through some bad press – mainly aimed at their customer service practices, but they have made strides to make their customer service better and to lower their interest rates. If you are looking for a credit card with a proven track record, then you will want to consider Chase.

Business Contracts Provisions

By Jeffrey Matsen

Obviously, all contracts should be prepared and reviewed by competent legal counsel. However, there are a number of fairly standard contract provisions that are in most contracts but may not be familiar to non-lawyers. The following discussion will help you better understand the impact and importance of these provisions.

Attorney's Fees

Most contracts will have a clause related to attorney's fees. Under most circumstances, even a successful plaintiff will not be able to recover their attorney's fees unless the contract so provides. It is even less likely for one defending a lawsuit to recover their attorney's fees from the plaintiff, without the proper attorney's fees clause. Therefore, look for a provision that provides that reasonable attorney's fees AND court costs (which can be sizable) be awarded to the 'prevailing party.'

Applicable Law

Many contracts will have a provision stating that the terms of the contract will be governed by and constructed in accordance with the laws of a particular State. You should ensure that the state in which you live is selected as the applicable state, to ensure ease of interpretation, to be able to hire legal counsel close to you, and to minimize uncertainty.

Jurisdiction/Venue

Many people may not understand the difference between Jurisdiction and Venue. Jurisdiction refers to the authority a court has to hear the matter. Jurisdiction involves both the rights the specific court has to rule on the dispute (what type of claim it is) and the ability of the court to enforce a judgment against the defendant. For example, a typical jurisdiction clause may say "Any action to enforce this agreement shall be filed in the Superior Court of California."

Venue clauses relate to the proper geographical location of the court of jurisdiction. A typical venue clause may read "Any litigation arising out of this Agreement shall be filed in the appropriate Court of jurisdiction in Orange County, California." However, the choice of venue must be appropriate under the law. In a contract action, venue is appropriate where the contract was entered into, where one of the defendants resides, or where the contract is to be performed.

Notices

All contracts should have a provision which instructs each party how to provide written notice of a condition or breach to the other party. This provision should include a space for the address and contact information for each party, be it an e-mail address or fax number. It should also include the proper manner of delivery, be it First Class Mail, fax, or overnight service. The inclusion of this provision ensures that all parties can be confident that they can contact the other party quickly and efficiently, if needed, and that no party can attempt to dodge service of any notices.

Entire Agreement/Merger Clause

Inserting a clause stating that the terms of the contract represent the entire agreement between the parties is an important consideration. It will help ensure that neither party will be able to argue that there was a separate, side-agreement or that any other representations were made that cannot be easily proven.

Counterparts

This provision is important if both parties do not sign at the same time. Inserting this provision allows both parties to sign separate copies of the agreement and treat each copy as an original and binding copy.

Mediation/Arbitration

Due to the high cost and time periods involved in arbitration, many contracts now have mandatory mediation or arbitration clauses. Mediation involves presenting your case to a neutral mediator, often a retired judge or attorney with experience in the field, and attempting to come to a mutual agreement of resolution. Arbitration, on the other hand, often involves the neutral third party acting as a judge and declaring a ruling on which party should prevail. Parties to a contract may agree to binding arbitration, meaning that the ruling of the arbitrator is final and can be enforced in court. A good rule of thumb is to agree to this provision if you feel that you may be sued, but do not agree to or insert it if you feel that you may sue in the future.

Liquidated Damages

A liquidated damages clause allows a party to recover a specified amount in the event of a breach of contract by the other party. By law, the amount must be reasonable. Under certain types of contracts, liquidated damages clauses are only allowed where the true amount of damage that would be sustained is indeterminate.

Copyright (c) 2009 Jeffrey M

Jeffrey R. Matsen of Wealth Strategies Counsel helps his clients structure the business and personal assets in the best way possible to preserve, protect and transfer them in the most efficient and tax saving manner. For more information go to http://www.wealthstrategiescounsel.com

Requirements Gathering - Define Requirements Accurately

By Dave Nielsen

The requirements you capture must be stated in business terms, must be clearly stated, must be concise, and must be feasible. To ensure that requirements are clearly stated, you should have them proof read by someone external to the project (or at least someone not familiar with the requirements you've captured). Any questions raised by your proof reader should trigger a re-write of that requirement. Clean the language up until your proof reader understands the requirement.

Requirements should address a business need. Requirements that can't be translated into a benefit for the business should be questioned for validity. By benefiting the business I don't necessarily mean generating new revenue (although this is never a bad thing), but benefits derived from software application are typically derived through cost savings, eliminating manual effort, or supporting new products. The requirement should address one of these areas.

Requirements should be stated in terms that are verifiable. A requirement that states the need for a "fast" transaction provides little guidance to the business analyst who will translate the requirement into a technical feature, or the programmer who will code it. Make sure that all the requirements that are captured are testable: "the user should be able to recover their session after an error" isn't good, "the user should be returned to the order input screen upon an error" is good (and testable). When a requirement speaks to how well the system performs, such the speed at which a transaction is performed, or the systems ability to process multiple transactions, the requirement should come with specific benchmarks. For example: "the transaction must complete in under 2 seconds". Even better: "the transaction must complete in less than 2 seconds during peak load periods".

Your business analysts will be responsible for translating the requirements into a technical specification so they should be consulted when requirements are being captured. The BAs are your best measure of the feasibility of a requirement. If the requirement is not compatible with the software and hardware systems chosen to implement the solution, the BAs should be able to detect this and avoid wasting effort developing software that won't satisfy the requirement. There are 2 critical approvals in the process of gathering requirements:

1. The vetting of business requirements by the Business Analysts
2. The vetting of the requirements specs (written by the BAs), by the authors of the requirements.

Providing this level of oversight over the requirements gathering process will enhance your chances of capturing and delivering the right requirements.

One of the most important facets of requirements management is the identification and tracking of the requirements through the design and build phases. Requirements should be captured as discrete entities. They may be stated in a sentence, or a paragraph, but must be uniquely identified by a numbering system that assigns that unique identifier to the requirement. This unique identifier will be used throughout the development process to ensure that each requirement has been designed, developed, and tested.

Following the tips in this page won't guarantee you a successful project, but should help you to identify the business needs of your stakeholders as efficiently as possible and ensure that they are accurately captured and translated into a software solution.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Nielsen

Best Ergonomic Mouse Review - A Quick Look at Working Smart

By Ben Littlefield

Scare devices are not habitually my thing, although as a hardcore PC gamer, writer and normal technology aficionado - spending my full day on the computer, let me tell something about the strain and injury which is real and exists in the workplace. I, along with others I know who are suffering with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), have some insight on how this can be a stress in my day-to-day life and would like to review an ergonomic peripheral that has made life a little easier, an ergonomic mouse. Not just any ergonomic mouse - I am talking about my new sidekick - the Evoluent Wireless Ergonomic Mouse.

Crippled gamers rejoice! This Ergonomic mouse is easy to use, comfortable at the workplace, slim, has many sexy curves, easily adjustable, and highly programmable. The good things in this ergonomic mouse are that it is comfortable, has excellent drivers, OS X compatible, Adjustable DPI, Application profiling, familiar design. Although I wish it had more buttons, I can easily forgive that, as I never realized how bad my last mouse was for my health. I have not had any significant wrist aches in over 2 weeks, since I started using this bad boy!

The grip of this Evoluent Right handed mouse is extraordinarily high compared with other ergonomic mice and traditional horizontal mice, so this mouse need good seating posture. According to the ergonomists at ergonomicsalifestyle.com, "It is absolutely vital that elbows are very near to each other at 90° angle." When I am using the outdated old style, traditional mouse - I have to move my hand so far and high that my wrist, arm, hand and my shoulder begin to ache. After using this ergonomic mouse, however, I am not getting any problems.

I am now converted into an ergonomics enthusiast! Using this Evoluent Right handed mouse is my dream, my arm is always at rest. You should make sure your chair is at proper height and your keyboard tray also at right position.

This Evoluent Right handed mouse is better than all other ergonomic mice. Because this mouse contains the features that Eliminate the Arm Twisting, contains the familiar grip, easy to operate buttons, fits all hands, and prevents desk rubbing. It will respond very quickly and it contains the programmable buttons that means it can easily work in XP Pro, XP Home, Vista 32 and also have some special functions. I love it - now I have to get a better chair to match!

For more ergonomics products, info, and deals: http://ergonomicsalifestyle.com

Ergonomic Blog: http://ergonomicblog.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ben_Littlefield

The Pros & Cons of Making Your Business a Separate Legal Entity

By Richard Taylor

There are a number of significant benefits for a small business owner to consider when determining if incorporation is the right path for their business.

We'll discuss these main advantages below as well as touch on the downsides that incorporation brings.

To start with, lets cover what business incorporation is exactly. When you incorporate a business, you are, as far as the law is concerned, providing a formal legal separation of your own personal assets and those that belong to the business. In effect,your company becomes a separate legal entity in its own right.

What does this mean to you as a small business owner? In very basic terms it means that should your business hit hard times and go bust, you as the owner are not liable for the debts owed by the business, because they are owed by the business and not you. So once incorporated you can run your business in the knowledge that your personal savings and assets are not at risk.

For businesses with a short trading history, or a poor financial history or with few assets, most lenders will ask for personal guarantees to be signed to provide them with extra security. But as the business grows the requirement for personal guarantees will diminish, because the business itself will have more assets to secure finance against.

If you company fails after being incorporated, shareholders are only liable up to the value of the equity investment made, other than any separate personal guarantees that may have been signed. In other words you liability is limited to your equity investment, so you can lose your investment in the company, but beyond that your personal savings and assets are safe.

As well as the personal limited liability protection that incorporation brings, another significant benefit is that once incorporated it is often easier to borrow money or raise further equity investment to finance the growth of your business.

It becomes more straightforward to raise additional capital for a number of reasons. Incorporation signals to the financial institutions that your business is planning to be around for a long time and gives them a degree of assurance. Also, following incorporation, you business has set share structures making it easier to value the worth of the company.

Being able to value the company independently makes it easier to raise finance as the debt to equity ratio of the business can be analysed, and the share structure itself means that shares can be issued to raise new equity investment. Having a share structure also makes the transfer of ownership more straightforward should the need arise.

Amongst the downsides to incorporation are the additional statutory and regulatory requirements that you will have to meet, which can be costly.

Taxation should also be considered. The business structure and the way shareholders and directors are remunerated will determine whether more tax is paid or not following incorporation.

It is always recommended that you seek professional legal and financial advice before proceeding along the incorporation path, and it should be noted that this article is for general information only and should not be relied on.

To learn in more detail about how to incorporate a business, including more pros and cons and considerations you need to think about, visit http://www.incorporate-a-business.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Taylor

4 Great Tips For Hiring a Commercial Collection Agency

By Gemma-Leigh Garner

Trying to find yourself a good commercial collection agency but have no idea where you should start? That's okay, I have some great tips right here. These are some things that you should look for when you get ready to pick the agency that fits your needs.

Tip #1- Compare- This means that you should not settle for the first company you find. They might be the worst ones out there. How will you know unless you compare them with other companies? Don't be afraid to let them know you have a few places in mind. Tell them you are comparing and you will get back with them. You never know what kind of offers may come up once you tell a few companies this.

Tip #2- Contracts- You should ask about their contracts. Ask them how often they update these and when they update. Ask for a copy and take it home with you. If they don't want to give you a copy then you need to forget this company all together. If they give you a copy you can take it home and read all the fine print while you're not being rushed to sign something. Take it home and read it. When you're done, hand it to someone else to read. This way you're sure you don't miss anything.

Tip #3- Insurance- You need to make sure the agency you hire is insured in the state you live it. Ask what type of insurance they have and how long they have had their policy. These insurance will protect you if something goes wrong. Something going wrong can be as simple as someone not agreeing with the collection tactics and they could sue. Without the proper insurance they will end up suing the collection agency and your company since you are the ones who hired this company. With the proper insurance they can not sue anyone.

Tip #4- Investigate- Once you have found a few companies that you really like, start looking into them further. You can check with the Better Business bureau first. Make sure they don't have any valid complaints. If they check out there, then take your investigation a little further. Head online and search with your favorite search engine. Just type in the company name and click search. This can lead you many places. You might find out more good things about them or maybe some bad things this time. It's always good to double check things.

Gemma-Leigh Garner is a freelance blogger and copywriter that writes on many different business & financial topics such as commercial collection agency debt collection strategies.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gemma-Leigh_Garner

You Just Can't Win! Why Most People Fail at Business

By Karin Hiebert

Game Plan:

In order to play the game, or be in the game, you need to know what the game is. Who are the players? Who is on your team? {this is a team game} always is, was and will be... its called a business. Never is a successful business a one man {or woman} show.

In all of history it is, and will be an "us" vs. "them." Simple. Not easy, but simple. My philosophy is; there are no losers. "if" THE GAME IS PLAYED WELL, and fair. both teams win, everyone wins- "when you can shake each others hand and say "good game" and mean it, genuinely and sincerely." Play by the rules and play fair. No cheating. No switching dices, or moving your man up the ladder when no one is looking. No challenging the creators of the game and the rule makers.

Rules are there for a reason, as is law, and divine nature/ order of things. Google or any top search engine from here on in, are the game creators and rule makers. (when in question refer to the rule book) Here is the break down of the game, its rules and how you win the game, and what you win! 1. You will win abundant Freedom, Respect, and Recognition for PLAYING. You and your teammates will win the prize. {whatever you set out to BE the prize...} this is by "your" definition of success or accomplishment of goals.

Think Monopoly. Park Place. [what is it that you want or what is important to you? to your business? to your team?] Knowing what your team wants, or what your team will do, or not do is a must! [avoiding jail] missing a turn, or getting to roll twice, seeing other "opportunities" when they run into them for both you and them. this is the type of team and game you want to play...

{this is the first question; you need to examine-where do you want your business to go? or grow? will you want to sell it down the line or "will it" down the line?} Team Captains, Managers and coaches are all good to have. As well as "Spares"

2. You win this game by working with your team players and by playing fair. Now think Hockey, Who plays what? Will they pass the puck? {or pass the buck?} Where, who or what are the players strong points, who gets paid what? what are assets, weakness? who makes up for what, and where? Think game. Think games. How are they played? How are they best played? This is your second question!

3. We enter into playing a game for several reasons; its FUN! it's challenging! it makes you "think" and often in games, you need to think a few plays or steps ahead...it is creative, and a lot of games can go on forever, or for a very looooong time, chess, monopoly, whatever. 3rd Question= "WHY ARE YOU in the game?" "why play in the first place, and what kind of player ARE YOU?"

4. How long do you want to play for? [stamina, endurance, consistency, all matter] who will sit in for you when you leave the table, or game...? May all sound like a strange analogy to some business questions...It helps to figure out, or try to figure out, what it is that we want, and how we will get it. It eliminates the "what's in it for me"question you have, or anyone has who is on your team...of course we all pretty much want the same things...there is no question there...the only question remaining is "will you play, read the rules, and kind of learn as you go along?"

This is to stimulate thought, and your mind. Rather than the typical "what are your goals" these questions come before the "what are your goals" for your business... take time to think on this, until I get back in touch with you later today! ~Karin Hiebert

Karin Hiebert

~Karin is a social media marketing player. Karin also is a High Profile Hair stylist, Coach and trainer in advanced hair cutting, styling, and competition training for hairstylists around the globe.

A Dale Carnegie G.A. {graduate} skilled in teaching social media marketing, communication skills and Human Relations.

Currently Karin is Co-Authoring a book with Best Seller Timothy Kendrick on P.T.S.D. and trauma coping.
"Live your life, not the one others want you to live!"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karin_Hiebert

How Company Rewards Program Adapt to the Recession

By Gino Hitshopi

Despite some of the worries people may have had over the economy, customers and staffs are never short of receiving some sort of rewards program for their loyalty or hard work. How do companies afford this? Well there are two ways to answer this and the best way to look at it is to define and identify the different principles of a rewards programme before establishing the method in which these companies use to make these programs possible.

The first kind of rewards program is one that many people will be familiar with and that is a reward for being a loyal customer. Most people will recognise this as being a loyalty reward, or loyalty programme or loyalty incentives. Whichever way one is familiar with, it is essentially a way to reward the customer for their continued loyalty and choice to use the service. This may be offered after many years of using the service, or even for a completing a short-term contract.

The catch is to try to keep the customer in their books for as long as possible. For customers this may mean taking some time out to do their research into finding the best reward scheme to go with. These are offered from the number of points earned from use of a credit card, incentives collected from the use of a mobile phone or even points rewarded from the use of a point's card in retail outlets. Very often the customer will be notified of their loyalty and offered a deal of some sort, which may be a discount on various products, enough points for a trip, extended contract for half the price etc. Often customers prefer more money in their pockets, which can be offered in the form of extra credit on a credit card or free text messages/phone calls on a mobile phone.

With this kind of a reward scheme it may be a good idea for many to take up the offers due to the current difficulties faced by some individuals. Things like points towards travel or discounts on general items, or cheap gas prices with certain amounts of points collected, may well be worth taking up if money is tight.

The other kind of rewards program comes with being a loyal or hardworking member of staff at a company that has clearly achieved financial success over a certain period. This may be calculated after 6 months or 12 months, and compared to by the previous year's successes. With this many companies may choose to reward individual performances or the entire staff as a whole. This kind of incentive is designed to recognise staff efforts and motivate them to continue making a concerted effort to achieving successful results.

These incentive programs can be a day trip taking part in team building exercises, or a night at a five star hotel together with a decent three-course meal. Or perhaps the bosses may try something different such as a day at the races, taking part in driving a race car round a hired circuit; or a day of extreme sporting activities etc. Whatever the incentive it is important that staff feel like they have been fully appreciated for the efforts and continue to place the same enthusiasm throughout the remainder of their employment.

How companies adapt to the recession really depends upon the success that they have achieved. Of course, companies that have been hit by recession are less likely to offer incentive programs such as these; however, they may have a different approach to rewarding their staff that is cost effective such as an office party, small incentive gifts etc.

Gino Hitshopi is an expert on rewards program and incentive bonuses having worked in a company that regularly rewarded their staff for outstanding work and also rewarding their clients for their continued loyalty to using the company services. For more ideas on rewards programs for staff visit http://corporate.greatamericandays.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gino_Hitshopi

Business Traveler Tips - Cannot Send or Receive Email Messages

By Bob D Kaminsky

After a busy day of making a number of sales calls, meeting new people and making contacts, you call it a day and a grab a hotel room for the night. You log into your laptop to update the day results and get ready to send a number of emails to your boss/suppliers to update new orders and deliveries. You finish composing the email and click on send but nothing happened! You have to get that email communication through, its critical.

Have you ever been in this position where you cannot send receive email messages?

Here are planning tips to help prevent this situation.

1) Always Bring along LAN / Ethernet Cable. - The majority of hotels now offer wireless services for Internet access but at times the signal quality of the wireless service may become low thus restricting your access to the Internet. If you cannot get access to the Internet via the wireless service connect your LAN port on your PC to the Hotel computer network. Most Hotels have this function available for you but they usually to not have extra LAN / Ethernet cables in stock.

2) Carry a list of tech support numbers in your laptop case. - Your firewall or latest update of your virus scanner may have broken your email communications. Knowing who to call will drastically reduce your frustration level.

3) To Prevent Undeliverable Email Error Messages, keep outgoing email messages under 10K. - Emails with very large attachments may be rejected by the remote mail server because of the size of the email may fill up the receipts email inbox but also a number of Email servers have hard limits on the size of the message that it will accept. A good rule of thumb is to keep the email message under 10mb, this will prevent your message from being undeliverable.

4) Subscribe to a Internet Email SMTP Services to prevent email relaying problems.- When you are traveling for business you destinations may be from 1 hour from your home base to half way around the world. Where ever you are,( Internet Cafe of Hotel ) the probability of you using a different ISP for email communications is very high. Each and every Internet service providers have their own policy dictating how emails services will be provided and almost all ISPs will not allow you to use their email servers to relay message to external sources. ISPs prevent relaying as a mechanism to stop spam emails from propagating. ISP will only allow relaying when they can verify who you are meaning that you need to subscribe to their services.

Internet Email SMTP Services will prevent you getting the following errors

550 Unable To Relay,550 refused, 550 relay error, 550 relay denied, 550 relay not permitted, 550 5.7 1 relay, 550 unable to relay for xxx domain and allow you to send receive email messages from anywhere. Internet Email SMTP Services will work with Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Apple Mail and any other email client.

Plan to prevent Cannot Send Receive Email Messages. Discover how you can eliminate email sending problems with an Internet Email SMTP Server Find out today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_D_Kaminsky

6 Tips For Starting a Business Despite the Recession

By Linda Locke

The daily news of doom and gloom about the current recession and the financial challenges facing the world might convince you that now is not the best of times for a mom to start a business. But despite the hard times, many moms are doing just that.

After all, if you have been let go or can't find a job in the current economy, what have you really got to lose by starting your own business now? Why not chase your own dreams, rather than be dependent on another employer? Why not just take control of the helm yourself?

Because if you have a computer, a network of contacts and some marketable skills, you can launch your business from home with very little money and use your passion and sweat equity to make it a success.

But first, you need to do some planning and scheming to find the best business for you. Here's some tips to get you started:

1. Make a list of your current assets. Include equipment like computers, printers, and cell phones; skills like writing, editing, web design, organizing; expertise with software programs and computers; a list of your network of personal and industry contacts; and the amount of capital you could invest in your business.

2. Brainstorm ideas for the kind of business you want to start. Don't edit the ideas as you write them down, just keep going and list as many as you can. Then put the list away for a day and come back to it and then pick the top 5 ideas that excite you the most.

3. Do some Internet research using Google and Amazon to find web sites, books, and blogs that focus on your top 5 business ideas. Also look for potential role models of women who have already built a successful business in these areas. You might want contact them later to ask for an information interview to find out more about the ins and outs of a specific business.

4. Now, based on the information you've collected, write a short summary of your business ideas and the potential income for each. Be sure to include the links to resource sites, books, and the role models you've found. Think of these as a short pitch you might make to an investor to get them interested in your idea.

5. Assemble a focus group: people you trust who will support you in your entrepreneurial efforts and who will give you good feedback and advice. Do a presentation of your business summaries to them and ask for their input. Do not dismiss any of their ideas or comments. Just listen to what they say and write everything down for further review later.

Note: It's best to select people who are already successfully self-employed themselves. You want a nurturing and informed group of people to help you evaluate your ideas. People who have never been self-employed often have negative and unfounded ideas about starting a business and will project their fears to you.

6. Finally, review all the information and input you've selected and choose the business you want to start. The best business for you will usually be the one that intersects on your points of passion, skills, and resources.

Linda Locke writes about social networking, blogging, home-based business and tech topics. Visit her Moms in Business blog here: http://www.momsbiznews.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Locke

Close Your Accounting Books Fast With a Month-End Checklist .

By Wade Anderson

The month end close checklist is a system that allows a company to facilitate the end of month accounting department closing process. A comprehensive month end close checklist will contain much useful information that is exhaustive in its detail and may cover the following areas: bank reconciliation, budget versus actual, cash flow analysis, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed assets, debt reconciliation and a host of other items.

When using a month end close checklist, it is highly recommended that most small to medium size companies prepare six binders, one each for Accounts Receivable, Sales Orders, Accounts Payable, Purchase Orders, Payroll and General Ledger. The binders should be 3 or 4 inches thick and can be obtained from the office supply stores with each binder having twelve dividers, one for each month. In each of these binders place the completed month-end checklists and month end reports as printed out by the accounting.

Once these procedures are followed diligently, the month end close checklist system will assist the company auditing department, which must provide relevant information to the IRS and to other state tax auditors. In addition, this system acts as a fallback in case of a disastrous system or backup failure.

There are two types of closing checklists. Those that pertain to year end (hard closes) and those pertaining to month end (soft closes) and each is useful in providing managers in the organization with important financial information, especially for internal use. With the growing use of computers, the month end close checklist has now found its way into software packages that automate the whole process for the current month and for the next month.

An important aspect of month end close checklists is the presence of closing process controls which can be either preventive or detective and which are used to produce company financial reports for each month. Usually companies formulate their own regulations to ensure that the procedures that they use are effective and that the reports accurately provide month end information about the financial position of the company. The checklist is there to provide a method of keeping accurate financial records that are both consistent and well maintained.

There are a number of vendors selling month end close checklists that, after a lot of research and expert advice, have been diligently prepared and which take into account all aspects of the company's accounting procedures. The checklist can also be tailored to suit individual needs as required. The cost is not more than ten dollars and the benefit to the user is tremendous as there is no need to do much more than fill in the relevant information and once that is done, the month end close checklist is ready to be used for the individual company's accounting system.

Wade Anderson is a CPA and operates DigitalWorkTools.com
Legal Forms and Business Documents. Click to view a Month End Close Checklist

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wade_Anderson

How to Start a Business - Announcing 6 Fast Methods to Jumpstart Your New Business.

Are you seriously considering starting your own business? Well, then let me congratulate you as you have taken the biggest step to get a bit closer to your financial freedom. Here are the fast methods to keep in mind if you want to get started on the right foot:

1. What type of business? The first thing that you need to do is to determine what type of business you are going to open. When deciding, consider your passion or your interests and those things that you are an expert on. Based on research and personal experience, you'll have a great shot at succeeding in this endeavor if you like the business that you are running. You'll be excited to go to work everyday because you'll find it fun.

2. Online or offline? With the advent of the internet, you now have a choice aside from running a brick and mortar business. When deciding, write down and weigh all the pros and cons. Personally, I would recommend that you build an online business as it is not as costly as an offline business. In addition, it's also profitable because you'll be able to tap the global market.

3. Do your research. After knowing the type of business that you are going to open, the next thing that you need to do is to research. Read and learn as much as you can about the business. Take advantage of relevant seminars and training programs. If possible, work together with industry leaders to obtain valuable techniques and tips. The more information you gather, the better.

4. Competition analysis. Check your competition before you totally sink your teeth into this endeavor. What you'd like to happen is to build a business where you have little or no competition at all. Check the existing supply and demand within your target niche. If the demand is greater than the supply, this will tell you that you are on the right track as you've got great chances of making a sale.

5. Permits and licenses. Depending on the type of business that you would like to run, you maybe required to secure various permit and licenses. As this process may take some time, make sure that you put this on your priority list.

6. Marketing campaign. As early as possible, plan an aggressive and highly targeted marketing campaign. It pays to know ahead of time how you can promote your products and how you can connect with your target market as this is the key to boost your sales and revenue.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed a brand new free guide.

Download it free here: Internet Marketing

By Sean R Mize

Do you want to learn how to use articles like this to drive targeted traffic to your site?

Click here: Article Writing Guide

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Sean Mize teaches coaches, consultants, and small business owners how to package their knowledge and sell it in high priced coaching, consulting, and online class packages, and is an expert at using articles like this to drive traffic to his website, and has taught hundreds of clients his secrets. Sean says "If you have an existing marketable service or skill that you can teach others, I can teach you to package it into a high-priced class or coaching program, guaranteed"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_R_Mize

Indian SMEs Carving a Niche in Namibia

By David K Parks

Namibia's economy is characterised by its heavy dependence on mineral export earnings. One of the leading exporters of diamonds in the world, Namibia is also the fifth largest uranium producer. According to the World Economic Forum, Namibia is one of the top five competitive economies in Africa.

India maintains cordial trade relations with Namibia. India exports pharmaceuticals, transport equipment, fine chemicals, rubber, ferrous and non ferrous metals and cotton to Namibia. Alternately, Namibia exports pearls, metal ores, raw hides and skin to India.

Advantage Namibia

Over the years, this African country has implemented some important policies to promote bilateral trade and investment with India. Indian SMEs eyeing expansion abroad have thus found an attractive market for growth and expansion in Namibia. The strategic location of the country makes it an ideal gateway to the thriving South African market.

Namibia's business-friendly environment has attracted several foreign investors from across the world. Its Foreign Investment Act of 1993 provides equal opportunities of growth for foreign investors. The country also provides tax benefits and special incentives to promote foreign investment.

Sectors of growth

Prospective sectors for trade and investment in Namibia include gems and jewellery, leather, textiles, energy and telecommunications.

Namibia's burgeoning tourism industry is also an ideal segment for Investment Guide. In recent times, Namibia has become a popular tourist destination in Africa. The government of Namibia is thus focusing on upgrading its infrastructure to boost tourist inflows. Indian SME in the hospitality segment can make inroads into the industry by catering to the increasing demand for luxury hotels, spas and resorts in the country.

To increase economic cooperation between the two countries, the Indian government has initiated its 'Focus Africa' policy. It has also announced financial aid for Namibia through the recently formed association - New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

The Indian government is also considering setting up SME clusters in Namibia to provide an impetus to Indian SMEs targeting Namibia for trade and investment. With total trade between India and Namibia growing at around 63% per annum1, Indian SMEs can look at making a mark in this African country in the near term.

1 Ministry of Commerce, Government of India

David Parks is a well known author and has written articles on IT Companies Directory B2B Portal, Home Appliances Manufacturers suppliers, Manufactures and many other subjects.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_K_Parks

A Guide to Modern Payment Solutions

By Gino Hitshopi

When it comes to the fluid movement of funds around the globe, there are a range of payment solutions that assist in making international commerce easier than ever. There are so many payment solutions, however, that it is difficult to decide which one is best, for which particular situation.

One of the best known payment solutions in the United Kingdom is the BACS system. This originally came about as an acronym of Banker's Automated Clearing Services. The process takes 3 days to complete; the 1st day is when the payment is entered into the system, the second day they are processed and on the third they are cleared. It is a very commonly used system, by which BACS Direct Debits and BACS Direct Credits are also implemented.

Faster Payments is a new payment solution recently introduced to the United Kingdom. As the first payments system introduced to the country for 20 years, it offers some advanced features; most notably that it can transfer funds almost instantaneously. It is set to make all manner of financial dealing considerably easier.

CHAPS is a payment solution introduced in 1984, standing for Clearing House Automated Payments System. At its inception it handled 7000 transfers a day, and by 2004 it handled a whopping 130,000 transfers - worth 300 billion pounds. 19 settlement banks in the UK use the system.

Apart from these longer established payments systems, there are a whole range of new payment solutions that make buying and selling much easier - particularly online. One of the best known is the Paypal system. Paypal came about in 2000 with the merger of Affinity and X.com. It was later acquired by eBay in October 2002.

It works by allowing payments to be made for all manner of goods and services, and is the most used method of payment on eBay (UK sellers must offer it). The person receiving funds has a small percentage based fee taken from the amount. There are thought to be 184 million accounts of which 73 million are active.

3V is another of various payment solutions that have gained prominence over recent years. It has been marketed by Alphyra and Permanent TSB - and operates in Ireland, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. It allows people to buy a voucher which in real terms is a VISA branded debit card. Anyone over the age of 16 can get one of these vouchers, which are essentially pre-paid credit cards.

They are only valid for cardholder-not-present purchase - such as those over the phone or the internet. They have the advantage of not requiring any credit checks, and so might be useful for those who have run up some bad debts, or who do not have a credit rating sufficient to get a standard credit card.

Gino Hitshopi is highly experienced in the realm of payment solutions, having worked in the banking industry for many years. For more information please visit: http://www.bemac.com/products/payment

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gino_Hitshopi

How to Use Barcodes to Track Your Inventory.

By Neil T Jones

Every business has a stock or inventory of goods and products that it deals with. Inventory management helps to ensure that the stocks maintained help in providing customers with the goods they ask for in the quickest time possible. This will help in enhancing customer satisfaction, but can work effectively only if the entrepreneur is able to predict his customer's future requirements. This can be done manually but would prove to be an extremely complicated system. An efficient system of inventory management helps all businesses give better service to their customers.

Tools of Inventory Management

Inventory management is possible by using various types of tools like mobile computers and barcode printers. These help improve the productivity levels of the labor force and extremely accurate records can be maintained. The tools are also inexpensive and easily usable to provide quick solutions to customer requirements. Efficiency is the buzzword of this system of inventory management.

Mobile Computers are useful for receiving orders from customers, tracking inventory and the final picking up of the required product. The problem solving process in inventory management gets easily with the aid of computers. On receiving an order, the computer is able to track all the relevant customer information and the product details for the order.

Barcode Printers bring far more accuracy into inventory management and are able to eradicate errors that may crop up at any step. The barcode printer is equipped to print clear and crisp receipts in no time. This facilitates the process of stock verification with the required accuracy.

Both mobile computers and barcode printers enhance levels of accuracy and efficiency by issuing receipts, labels and invoices, along with details about orders like delivery dates, all of which can be useful as reference tools. The label formats can be varied and sizes of barcodes can also be modified depending on the purpose they are supposed to be used for.

The information stored by the two is convenient for maintaining business efficiency and helps in providing customer support facilities. The coordination between the sections taking orders, dispatching the product and delivering it to the customer also becomes easier and can be easily monitored. Time saving is a natural consequence and a streamlined process can be put in place more easily.

Mobile computers and barcode printers as tools of inventory management fit in perfectly with technology-driven systems that allow precision, efficiency, time-saving and accuracy. In short, they assist in creating a smooth functioning base for businesses.

Asset Management and stock control is vital in making any business work today, any management team must know exactly how much stock is on hand and how much that stock is worth. Buying and selling stock is at the heart of most businesses today and is essentially how most make their money, having inaccurate stock figures can have a detrimental effect on your end of years figures.
Mobile computers are becoming more and more popular as they allow for more functionality than an ordinary barcode scanner and they will allow you to make changes to inventory and stock levels on fly.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_T_Jones

Minority Business Grants - How to Get Free Government Money You Never Pay Back.

By Austin Warty

Starting a business is an exciting time, but lining up all of your financing can be stressful. With minority business grants, individuals who are starting a new business or expanding an existing business can obtain as much as $50,000 to help their business succeed. As a result, minority business owners can reduce their financial risk and give back to the community by launching a profitable venture that could provide jobs, attract competition and bring in more tax dollars to the state.

The biggest advantage of obtaining minority business grants over traditional loans is that the money that is obtained never has to be paid back. Grants are provided by government agencies and private foundations as tax-free cash awards with no repayment terms, regardless if your business succeeds or not. To get approved, however, you better be sure you have a solid business plan in mind that can turn a profit.

While minority business grants may only be one of the many financial resources you'll need to tap into in order to make your business a success, any money you can obtain through grant funds can help with future profits. Private funding and traditional venture capital, for example, often requires giving up some ownership of your business, which puts your profits and control of your company at risk.

But by searching and applying for free minority business grants, African American, Hispanic, and Asian American citizens can obtain the money they need to lease office space, hire employees, buy new equipment, or source their products. These programs are provided to help American small business succeed and should not be overlooked as a real opportunity to partner with the government and put your tax dollars to good use.

Get minority business grants and find the money you need to start a new business or expand your existing business. Apply and and you could you could have your cash grant in as little as 7 days.

=>> Grant for Minority Businesses

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Austin_Warty

Business Development - Uncover 5 Compelling Development Tips For Your Business

By Sean R Mize

Do you want to grow your business exponentially? Here's what you need to do:

1. Widen your reach. Don't be content with the number of your potential clients. Identify additional group of people who might be able to find your products and services appealing or useful without major development or design changes.

2. Keep yourself posted on the every-changing needs and demands of your customer base. Invest on research to discover new market pain/problem that can easily be converted to great product/service idea. However, make sure that your prospects are willing to spend their precious dimes on your new offerings before you go to the development and production stage.

3. Improve the quality of your products. Buyers simply love it when they get what they pay more. Continuously improve the quality of your offerings to make them more useful and more enticing to the eyes of your potential clients. You may include new features or make them more user-friendly.

4. Check on your competitors. Make it a habit to check on your competitors on a regular basis. As an entrepreneur, you need to know what these people are doing so you can easily device a plan on how you can outplay them.

5. Marketing strategy. Don't stop looking for ways on how you can effectively promote your products and services without burning your pockets. If you are operating online, I recommend that you use free but efficient online marketing tools that are guaranteed to help you capture the attention of your potential clients. These include article marketing, blogging, social media marketing, forum posting, email marketing, and ezine publishing.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed a brand new free guide. Download it free here: Internet Marketing

Do you want to learn how to use articles like this to drive targeted traffic to your site? Click here: Article Writing Guide

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Sean Mize teaches coaches, consultants, and small business owners how to package their knowledge and sell it in high priced coaching, consulting, and online class packages, and is an expert at using articles like this to drive traffic to his website, and has taught hundreds of clients his secrets. Sean says "If you have an existing marketable service or skill that you can teach others, I can teach you to package it into a high-priced class or coaching program, guaranteed"

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_R_Mize

Why Would You Need a Industrial Office Cleaning Contractor?

By Steve S Rosen

Standard office cleaning contractors can keep your place of work clean, which would save you time and allowing you to focus on your business. They keep the toilets, kitchens and cubicles presentable for all who pass through them. But, daily, weekly, and monthly routines are not enough sometimes. There are situations that require the services of industrial cleaning contractors to do specialized jobs. Let's look at some instances when you might need to use the services of this type of provider.

They can provide heavy duty floor cleaning services. They should have experience and know-how for deep cleaning vinyl, wood, and ceramic floors. These floors usually have wax buildup over time and need to be stripped and thoroughly scrubbed periodically. They should also know the correct methods for doing this in order to protect the flooring.

Detailed cleaning of light fixtures is a tedious but necessary job. They accumulate insects and dust and if not cleaned at regular intervals can present a hazard to those with allergies. They are experienced in protecting areas where they will work on the lighting so as not to contaminate work cubicles with dust and debris.

Tile cleaning is necessary to get areas missed in daily cleaning jobs. Daily cleaners don't have the time to clean toilet and kitchen tiles. Tiles mostly require the grout to be cleaned because this is an area where mold and mildew accumulates and presents an allergy hazard for employees.

There are instances of the need for special waste removal. While most office environments do not need hazardous waste removed, there are special situations where an industrial cleaning expert might be needed. For example, if an office replaces all of its computer equipment, it would need the services of a contractor that specialises in the environmentally safe way to dispose of these items.

The cleaning of duct should not be overlooked. The air ducts in most office buildings are not easily accessible for standard cleaning and require the services of a specialist. Air ducts are susceptible to the buildup of bacteria and other contaminants. Employees are at risk of respiratory illnesses if they are not cleaned periodically.

If the office has a computer room, it definitely requires a specialist for proper cleaning. Daily cleaners in many cases are not trained in the cleaning of computer equipment. For example, you should never clean the insides of computer servers with a standard vacuum cleaner because the static electricity could harm delicate electronic components. Computer rooms (also known as computer suites) typically have raised floors for the purpose of running cables and ventilation. The space underneath these floors accumulates dust and other debris that can be harmful to the adequate ventilation of computer equipment.

They are experienced in the requirements for toilet deep cleaning. Sinks and toilet bowls typically become stained over time and industrial cleaners have chemicals that can remove them. However these chemicals can be extremely toxic and should only be handled by these experts. Other aspects of toilet deep cleaning include removal of graffiti and calcium deposits from standing water.

Steve Rosen is the managing director at Streamline Facility Services Ltd, a professional London office cleaning company.

We are a team of experienced office cleaners in London, and together we provide a wide range of cleaning services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_S_Rosen

Business Culture - Answer These Questions to Know the Culture of Your Organisation

By John Jeffreys

Let me define culture as "the way things are done around here". If your organisation has existed for some period of time, there will be "war stories" that will be repeated about how it copes with various issues. These war stories, which are probably repeated from time to time by both owners and employees alike, describe the attributes of the organisation through the way that it has dealt with a particular situation.

Sometimes these are stories of success and describe, say, how the business improved its sales or its relationships with a customer. In other situations it may be a story about how a customer was lost and how the organisation dealt with the loss according to its culture. Or, perhaps, the enterprise did not deal with the matter in a way that was in accordance with "the way things are done around here". From these accounts of past events, new employees learn how the organisation goes about its business. Further, it reinforces the accepted attitudes and behaviour of the organisation to those who already work in it.

I have been a partner in four accounting firms. Two of those were very large accounting firms (including one of the big four). Three of those firms had strong cultures and one did not. It was no surprise to me that three of those firms had good profitability and one did not. The three firms with a strong idea of who they were knew what they were about and had a clear focus on how they conducted themselves in front of clients and in the community in general. They knew the formula of how to make money and they made sure their people conducted themselves according to the organisation's standards.

However, having a distinctive culture is not always a guarantee of profitability and success. An organisation can have an attitude of not caring or laziness. It can have an overly social feel about it that does not promote productivity. These attitudes can be quite strong and can be very difficult to change.

Typically, in order to change these types of organisations into more profitable enterprises, an outside person is brought in who has no "investment" in the existing way things are done. This person then tries to implement change. Sometimes that is done (or attempted) very quickly and dramatically. Other times, it must be a long slow process. The person undertaking that change must determine which is the best approach.

Here are some questions that you can ask yourself about the culture of your organisation.

What are the more frequently repeated war stories of your business?
Is it focused on customer service?
Is the customer truly king or queen in your organisation or is that just something that people parrot as something that they should say?
Do people in your organisation enjoy coming to work?
Do they feel motivated and inspired to do a good job no matter what it is?
Do people in your organisation freely make suggestions for improvement?
Do your people recommend your business as a place to be employed to other people?
Is "the way things are done around here" obvious to suppliers and customers?
If you were to ask your customers or suppliers the key thing that they noticed about your people, what would they say?
Do your staff know the rules, both written and unwritten, about the way that they should conduct themselves in certain circumstances?
Is there a sexist or racist attitude, even to a small extent in your organisation?
What kind of poor or bad behaviour do you tolerate?

Your answer to these questions will reveal a lot about "the way things are done around here".

Wishing you easier business.

John Jeffreys

John Jeffreys wants you, the business owner or manager, to have an easier life. John Jeffreys helps you to achieve this by drawing on his 30 years business experience as a Chartered Accountant and partner in major accounting firms. For instant access to videos, audios and software products, visit http://www.businessease.com.au

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Jeffreys

Textile Industry Assortment

By Adam Ray

The variety that the textile industry offers is exhaustive and is ever mounting. With so many uses of fabric, there come so many types of fabric that are used by people in their everyday lives. Albeit, garment manufacturing is the priority, yet cloth is used in many other ways.

Textile industry offers an array of products that range from everyday use to luxury and to business. Apart from clothing, fabric sees high usage in the manufacturing of shoes. Shoe industry is increasing its prospects by offering the customers quality shoes made from fabric. Thus, the textile industry gives variants of its products to the vast array of customers and prospects. And the business is not limited to particular region or country. With large number of populace turning into customers, textile is seeing import and export too. Large looms of raw and readymade fabric is transported in and outside countries. And this is happening for all kinds of fabric.

Every single garment manufacturer is witnessing huge profits in the business. People have increasing demands of all types of fabric resulting in flourishing of the textile industry. Talking of garments, cotton is all time favorite for the summers. Winters are seeing a comeback of tweeds and corduroys. Printed fabric is liked in all types of weathers and prints keep on changing according to style.

When decorative material is talked about, upholstery fabric also has huge variety to choose from. Prints matter here too, depending up on the on-going style. The kind of furnishings people want is a decision which they take with much contemplation and it is after seeing innumerable fabrics that they settle at one. People feel that their house or office gives an impression of their taste, status and standard of living. So, they give much thought to deciding what all things they will make use of as home or office décor. This again may not just contain curtains, but bed and sofa linens, wall to wall carpet and the like. Some are even particular about the book binding cloth in their office or study.

All of the already mentioned things are more or less known to all, but there are things like election canvassing material which also forms part of the textile industry, though a different kind is applied here.

Also, defence material like tents and other equipment is also a part of the same industry. And all this makes it very clear that the textile industry has a lot to offer.

The finest of garment manufacturer is entering the velvet industry.With increasing business and avenues it is also ready to capture the shoe industry

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adam_Ray

Barcode Labels, Reading Between the Lines.

By Neil T Jones

Barcodes were a novel addition to merchandise a few years ago and were closely observed initially. Today they are a fixture on every product and are a distinguishing feature as well. But no one stops to observe the difference anymore. Barcodes are treated as a set of parallel black lines, a combination of thin and thick lines with some numbers written with the lines. There is some discriminating feature in these lines and each set of lines or a barcode stands for a distinct identifying code that is associated with a particular product. The barcode holds a lot of information pertaining to the identification number of the product, its price, date of acquisition and other numeric data. Each time the barcode is scanned, this information comes on the computer screen and can be used for various purposes.

The most commonly found barcodes are on daily groceries and perishable products, but they have specialized uses as in the publishing industry where barcodes are useful for purposes of coding. Manufacturing companies use barcode for batch identifications as well. Any product or service requiring a unique identification will get it from a barcode.

As a result barcodes are very much in demand and barcode labels are among the most saleable items today.

Printing Barcode Labels

Barcode labels are printed with the aid of the latest technology available. Information about this is amply available on websites dealing with barcodes. Reading this information will give even the layman a fair idea about how barcode labels are printed. Individuals needing assistance for barcodes can also browse on the Internet for their specific requirements.

Given the size of the barcode market and the rate at which it is expanding, a wide variety of barcode products are available and they fit into various price and quality levels. While it is always advisable to print original barcodes, but sometimes when quality is not a concern, one can opt for cheaper ones. But even then, they must adhere to the required standard so that there are no quality related issues at a later date.

The best barcodes come out from good quality barcode printers. However, barcode printers also require quality inputs to provide best results. If the supply of inputs is not of the required standard, the barcodes printed will also be of an inferior quality. The barcode printer then depends on the best quality labels, ribbons, ink and print heads.

There are countless makes and models of Label printers available today, and the price range can vary greatly depending on the amount and quality of prints you will need every day, Even though there are many different makes and models available, some manufacturers have risen to become the market leaders, these names include Zebra, Intermec and Sato and of these 3 brands a Zebra printer has become the standard in many industries.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_T_Jones

In a Global Market Does it Pay to Go Local?

By William Milton

I'm a small local businessman in Hemel Hempstead, England and building the local economy is my passion. There you go, I've let my dirty little secret out the bag. Talking with my friends in the UK, both business and non-business people, one thing has become abundantly clear - we are all losing faith in the big boys.

In the UK, our government has misled us over the war in Iraq and we are embroiled in a war in Afghanistan that we don't quite understand either. Lately our politicians are scurrying for cover, and the exit doors, as their fiddling of expenses becomes public knowledge. The banks have been seen to have been acting with naivety at the best and dishonestly at the worst and have also lost our confidence. Big businesses are laying people off and our economy is really struggling. What are we to do?

Well, I want to suggest that we go local! This is an unprecedented opportunity for our small to medium sized businesses to support each other and, not just ride out the recession, but positively thrive during it. But, we need to support each other in our local areas which for me is Hemel Hempstead in England. Its not that I'm against big businesses but if I sell someone locally my services then I'll jolly well work harder to make sure that I deliver on my promises than I would if I just worked for a big multi-national where I'm relatively anonymous.

The business I own is based right at the heart of Hemel Hempstead and I see my clients every day as I walk down the street. I care about them deeply! I want them to succeed because without them I don't have a business. So I craft advertisments for them that attract the local people, I hold networking events so that we can encourage each other and exchange leads, I organise door drops to 30 000 homes to publicise the local businesses - in short - I try to make a difference locally.

Now if every neighbourhood did this our economy would soon be on the road to recovery and our local towns and cities would be regenerated. Sure, its a slightly selfish outlook in life but how else are the small guys going to compete against the massive internet companies with all their billions of pounds in resources.

I'm sticking my stake in the ground and unashamedly supporting Hemel Hempstead local businesses whilst at the same time acknowledging that we also need to use all of the fantastic resources afforded us by the internet - blogging, newsletters, EzineArticles, social websites and so on.

So if you want to give me a bit of affirmation here then visit my website and drop me an encouraging email. My website address can be found in the resource box below.

William Milton is a married man (30 years) with 2 children and a dog called Swizzle. He owns a web business called CityLocal/HemelHempstead which seeks to promote and harness the power of local people and local businesses. He spends a lot of his time networking and encouraging the small to medium sized businesses in the area. William lives near London, England.

To visit my website go to http://www.citylocal.co.uk/hemelhempstead

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_Milton

10 Practical Tips For Running a Successful Home Based Business.

By: Dominic Boykin

Operating a successful home based business requires being able to earn an income from home and separate your home and family life. It also requires a firm grasp on your niche and the knowledge of how to advertise your business. The following is a list of 10 practical tips for running a successful home based business.

1. Find your niche. Every home based business is based off of a central idea. Discover your niche, what you can add to the market and how you can set yourself apart from the competition.

2. Find your target audience. Do your research to discover who will be buying your product or services. Get the demographics down so you know who to advertise the business to and the type of products they are interested in.

3. Be creative. Whether you are deciding on the type of business you want, designing your website or choosing a business logo it’s important to be creative so you appear unique and fresh to potential clients.

4. Design a killer website. A business website needs to appear both professional and fun. It needs to be creative, yet user-friendly and functional. Take the time to make sure your website meets these requirements. Does it appeal to a mass audience? Is it unique? Does it sell your product or services effectively?

5. Set financial goals. A successful home based business requires a certain level of dedication. It may mean working 10 hour days to get the business off the ground. Create a business plan that includes financial goals to strive for.

6. Provide stellar customer service. One thing that sets business apart is their commitment to customer service. Following up is crucial to expanding your business.

7. Track your sales. The history of your business will help you determine the future success of your home based business. Find out where your leads are coming from to maximize your advertising efforts and get more sales.

8. Use Internet marketing strategies to increase sales. Use the Internet wisely to spread the word about your home based business. Establish yourself as an expert within your niche topic by providing useful articles and answering customer questions. Become a regular on forums where your target audience interacts. Start a pay per click advertising campaign. Using these tactics will allow you to get more traffic and more sales without spending a lot of money on advertising upfront.

9. Separate work and home life. Family is important and it is likely one of the reason you want to start a home based business. Family and work don’t mix well, however. Set clear goals for work and your family life. Don’t take calls from friends and family certain times of the day, for example. Create sacred hours that are set aside each day exclusively for getting work done.

10. Put in the time and energy. A successful home based business doesn’t just happen. You need to make it happen. Your business is what you make of it and is a direct result of the time and energy you put into it.

These tips are a basic list of things to consider when starting a home based business. Learning as you go is part of the process, but if you do enough research you can learn from the mistakes of others and maximize your profit from the start.

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Emotional Intelligence Steering the Business World.

By Kiran Bala

I have no doubt whatever that most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness...much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into the habit of using and moving only his little finger...We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream! - William James

People often wonder, what emotions has got to do with intelligence? If one is intelligent, he/she is intelligent, why would someone like to get into emotional nitty gritties and complicate life? Aren't emotions for the weak minded? Well, am sure many of us do feel like that. Someone once told me, if you meet people in high school reunions, you would realize that the ones you considered the smartest might not be doing that great in life and the ones, who were popular, got along with people and were positive about life in general irrespective of their grades, are doing amazingly well in life. So what is it that sets these people apart?

The most distant roots of this puzzle can be traced back to Darwin's early work on the importance of emotional expression for survival and adaptation. In 1920 E. L. Thorndike at Columbia University, used the term social intelligence to describe the skill of understanding and managing other people which he believed is reason for performance and success.

The term emotional intelligence was coined by Salovey and Mayer in 1990 however it gained popularity after Daniel Goleman published his famous book "Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ" in 1995. Since then the term have been used more commonly than ever.

Previously it was assumed that emotional intelligence, cannot be measured since it revolves around emotions which themselves can never be quantified or be ever measured in any tangible form. By definition, "Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ), describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups". It is a relatively new area of psychological research. The definition of EI is constantly changing.

Context of EI in workplaces is again a new area which is gaining popularity. Managers often think they should be impassive and unemotional, and encourage their employees to be the same. But emotions drive performance, and bosses who don't acknowledge their own and others' temperaments can't inspire the best work from their staffs -- or even motivate themselves. This view was recently corroborated by Wall street journal under the article 'Business is Personal', and indeed it is, because whether we like it or not, face it or not, we don't leave behind our emotions in a suitcase, we carry them all the time. Its now, slowly companies are realizing the power of emotions in steering an organization towards its goal of sustainable business growth.

As Zuboff says, People have to stop thinking of their feelings as irrelevant and messy and realize that they are in fact highly differentiated nuance patterns of reaction and noble sources of information. We will only know what to do by realizing what feels right to us; attention is our most precious resource. Feelings are the body's version of their situation; everything that we want to know about our situation is revealed. The switch for business people comes when they realize what they thought was soft is hard and what they thought was hard is often arbitrary! In this sense feelings are guides to the big issues like where am I going?

The field of Emotional Intelligence was always under the skeptic's radar since there were no tools to measure it. However last two decades have seen explosive work in this field and there are now very comprehensive tools being developed to measure the same. However one must remember., at the end of day, its not magic, its emotions- it would require slow and steady approach, but once you do improve in various EI competencies, the benefits would be substantial and ground breaking, unlike any other improvement programs..

"Anyone can become angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not easy"- Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics

Kiran Bala is a certified EQ coach and is also pursuing her PhD in the field of Emotional Intelligence. To read more visit http://www.emotionalintelligencenow.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kiran_Bala

What is the Difference Between UPS Shipping Rates and USPS Shipping Rates

By Ruby Stein

The United States Postal Service was founded in 1775; one year before the country won it's independence from Great Brittan. For over 200 years, individuals and businesses have become familiar with this federal department of the government. Because it delivers over 40 percent of the country's non-critical mail, it is the method most people think of when they have a package that needs to be mailed. However, with raising competitors, it is important to understand that alternative carrier's rates differ from standard USPS shipping rates.

Mailing a package via the United States Postal Service has been one of the most common ways to ship small products by individuals or by businesses. While the USPS shipping rates are generally thought of as fixed rates, there are many variables. The rate is determined by the weight, dimensions and the distance that the package is traveling. There are incremental rates based on the size of the package. The weight of a package can either be its actual weight or its dimensional (DIM) weight. Dimensional rate is calculated by adding the length and girth of the box. The USPS will only ship items up to 70 pounds and a maximum overall size of 130 inches.

A similar shipping company that specializes more in business and global shipping is the United Parcel Service or UPS. UPS shipping rates are very competitive and offer some additional advantages. UPS does not have additional charges for delivery confirmation, which confirms to the shipper that a package has been successfully delivered to the proper person. Many believe that they also ship their ground or regular packages faster than the USPS. Another advantage is that they will ship heavier, larger packages. Their shipping maximums are 150 pounds and 165 inches. This is nearly double what the USPS will ship.

Because UPS ships larger packaging, they also offer cheaper cost-per-delivery mile and cost-per-dollar rates. UPS shipping rates can be calculated from the comfort of one's home or office. An account can be established which will help manage the cost and track the money spent on shipping. The United States Postal Service also has a system to figure the USPS shipping rates as well, however they do not offer account billing. They also charge additional money for many of the additional services that are offered.

One other factor that affects USPS shipping rates is that the USPS is a regulated government run establishment. They are controlled by the Post Master General. Because increased competition has started to chip away at the business that the USPS does, they have been forced to raise their rates.

UPS shipping rates have also fluctuated; however, competition has helped to keep their rates reasonable. It is important to check the rates a company charges because they do vary. A company or individual must also consider if the shipping organization offers additional services for little or no additional charge. Because the cost of shipping has an overwhelming strong influence on a business' success, it is imperative that each company reviews their shipping needs to determine that they are getting the best rate possible. Individuals also should use rate calculators to compare the cost to ship using various carriers.

Regardless of whether one ships using UPS or USPS, the first step in saving money is to make sure he or she knows both the UPS shipping rate and the USPS shipping rate for their packages. This will insure that each person is getting the best rate available for his or her particular shipping needs.

Save money by checking the best Shipping Rates available to you. There may be a small difference between the USPS Shipping Rates and the UPS Shipping Rates. But in the long run, you will save big. I've found a great place to start and they specialize in Logistics Software. Visit RateLinx.com for some great information.

How to Conduct Due Diligence

By Anne W. Brown

When a business is sold the process that normally occurs is that a conditional deal is negotiated with a few contingencies. One of the most important conditions is that the business for sale is subject to "due diligence" by the company buyer. The due diligence process entails the buyer to investigate facts and to determine that all representations are as stated and to essentially satisfy themselves that they are ok with proceeding with the transaction. It truly is the time for the buyer to check facts and do some 'homework' on the business.

During due diligence it is always recommended that buyers rely on their own professionals (lawyer, accountant and other professionals as needed).

The purpose of this article is to outline some more common activities that are on a due diligence checklist during a business for sale transaction. Please note that every deal is different - some require more thorough business investigation and some less.

Common items on a business due diligence checklist:

Financial Statements. The past 3-5 years of income statements and balance sheets. Accountant-prepared statements are preferred.

Tax Returns & Government Filings. Business income tax returns for the past 3-5 years to assist in validating the stated business financial results. Also, Ontario retail sales tax returns, GST returns, WSIB returns and other pertinent government filings should be reviewed as well as federal Canadian income tax returns too. Discuss with your accountant what is required.

Asset List. A complete list of assets included in the business sale. A proper summary should include the age, estimate fair market value and serial number for equipment and machinery.

Leased Equipment List. Similarly, there should be a list of equipment or other assets under lease that will be transferred or assumed by the buyer.

The Business Premises Lease. The buyer needs to review the premises lease and satisfy themselves with the terms and that the lease is assumable. All leases and contracts should be reviewed by the buyer's lawyer.

Employee Information. If it is not feasible to identify the employees by name then certainly by job title with information regarding job descriptions, compensation including benefits and bonuses, tenure of employment, any employment agreements or contract labour. Employee issue should be reviewed by a lawyer in order understand how best to handle employees during the transition as well as any surviving liabilities to the new owner.

Contracts. A copy of contracts with existing business customers or vendors.

Permits. A list of permits or licenses required to operate the company.

Operating Documentation. If the business has a process or operating procedures that are critical to its success, these should be reviewed during due diligence.

Lawsuits. If there are any pending or existing lawsuits that the business for sale is involved with, these must be reviewed with your lawyer.

List of Top Customers. This must be identified in order to determine that the business is not reliant on a few customers for a large percentage of its revenue. If not identified by name then these customers can be identified by a description and sales volume.

Copy of Marketing Materials. Samples of flyers, ads, newspaper inserts, etc. A buyer should have a fair degree of understanding about the company's marketing activities.

As always take the advice of a business broker so you don't miss out on anything that could cost you later but please rely on the guidance of your professional advisers - your lawyer & accountant to assist you through the due diligence process.

Business Broker

Ontario business brokerage serving the southern Ontario, Canada region from Toronto to Hamilton. Professional services to buyers and sellers of small businesses. Contact us for assistance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_W._Brown

Purchasing Wholesale Versus Purchasing Discount

By Karen Ali Whitten

How much cash can you really save if you purchase at wholesale rates? To answer this, try to look at the income structure of the retail market.

Most retail shops will mark up the cost of their goods one hundred percent, or double their own price. In this instance, you can clearly save fifty percent of your cash if you make your purchase straight from the wholesale provider, instead of purchasing from the shop. Basically, by purchasing directly from the wholesale supplier, you're not paying any service premium to the retail shop. The retail shop can charge more than the wholesaler as it is more convenient for the purchaser to locate most items in a retail shop than to hunt for a wholesale provider that does not have a principal storefront site in the middle of town.

In addition, many wholesale suppliers will not vend products to an individual buyer; they will only deal with an established industry that will purchase in volume from the wholesaler. Usually the wholesale supplier will have minimum purchase requirements that can be as low as five hundred dollars or as high as twenty thousand dollars. Essentially, most individuals accept retail rates as a fact of life as it takes some additional time and effort to discover how to reach the wholesale provider directly, and in many instances, it is impossible to do business with the wholesaler, unless you are a real business.

Now try to look at the discount pricing structure, which is what most individuals look for in saving their cash. When a shop offers discount rates, they will not mark up the product one hundred percent; they will proffer a discount from the full retail rate of twenty to forty percent. They still have to make an income, so they won't reduce the rate fifty percent, but they're making less of an income in the hopes of getting people to deal with them.

One more point about purchasing from discount shop is that you need to be cautious about how many of their items are actually being offered at discounts. A normal strategy is to attract shoppers into the shop with big discounts of normal retail rates on some popular goods. Then when you're in the shop, many of the other products will be selling at full retail rate. In many instances, you just won't be able to tell if a product in that shop is discounted or full retail, since it is not possible to do price comparisons on each product when you are in the shop itself.

In order to make money in business online, one of the core factors determining this would be the strength of your supply chain.

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