Business Ideas for Success

Effective Public Speaking Skill

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:15:00 -0800

“If you can’t write your message in a sentence, you can’t say it in an hour.” By: Dianna Booher

Here are some important tips of public speaking to help you develop your skills and become far more effective as a public speaker:

Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.
Present the desired image to your audience. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Remember, you don’t look as nervous as you feel.
Establish rapport with your audience. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly.

Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. If what you have prepared is obviously not getting across to your audience, change your strategy mid-stream if you are well prepared to do so.
Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think.
Check out the location ahead of time to ensure seating arrangements for audience, whiteboard, blackboard, lighting, location of projection screen, sound system, etc. are suitable for your presentation.
Tell audience ahead of time that you will be giving out an outline of your presentation so that they will not waste time taking unnecessary notes during your presentation.
Feeling: Tell jokes if you’re good at telling jokes. If you aren’t good, it is best to leave the jokes behind. There’s nothing worse than a punch line that has no punch.
Tell stories : Stories make you a real person not just a deliverer of information. Use personal experiences to bring your material to life. No matter how dry your material is, you can always find a way to humanise it. Keep audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same.
Using Public Speaking Environment – Try not to get stuck in one place. Use all the space that’s available to you. If your space is confined (say a meeting room or even presenting at a table) use stronger body language to convey your message.
Mistakes – Mistakes are all right. Recovering from mistakes makes you appear more human. Good recovery puts your audience at ease – they identify with you more.

Strategy tips for Keeping Your Job

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 01:01:00 -0800

In some countries, unemployment because of worker cutbacks is a big problem. Is this a problem in your country?

In response, career experts developed strategies for holding on to a job:

Make sure everyone knows you. Being a good worker is sometimes less important than making sure that people know you’re a good worker. Volunteer for new responsibilities, push your ideas, and generally make yourself visible.
Learn everything that could help you do your job better. If the company/ organization buy new computers, learn how to use them. If learning more about marketing could help you, take a short course in marketing.

Make sure you know everything about the company/ organization. If you find out that sales are becoming the most important department, try to make a move to sales. If report writing is the most needed and important for departments, volunteer for more responsible, spend more time in learning and doing that work.
Be positive. People who find things to complain about are a lot less popular than people who find things to praise.
Improve your speaking and writing skills. Having good ideas isn’t enough. You need to be able to communicate your ideas.
Impress your boss. You can often impress a boss by arriving early and working late and by dressing in a businesslike way even if others dress casually.
List down the six most important things that you want to do today.
Keep your mind six percent to nine percent empty for more ideas.

For instant, you poured the cup full, and then continue to pour. “Stop it! No more will go in.” This would means you are full of your own ideas and notions, how can I show you unless you first empty your cup.

At the end, it all comes down to one basic strategy: Make yourself so valuable that the company won’t want to lose you.

The Business Strategic-Planning Process

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 07:45:00 -0800

How to get valuable staff for organization?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:33:00 -0800

Once HR planning is completed, managers can focus on staffing the organization. The staffing function consists of three related activities: recruitment, selection, and outplacement.

Recruitment:
Recruitment activities help to increase the pool of candidates that might

be selected for a job. Recruitment may be internal to the organization (considering current employees for promotions and transfer) or external. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.

Internal recruiting:
Its advantages are that employers know their employees, and employees know their organization. External candidates who are unfamiliar with the organization may find they don't like working there. Also, the opportunity to move up within the organization may encourage employees to remain with the company, work hard, and succeed. Recruiting from outside the company can be demoralizing to employees. Many companies prefer internal over external recruiting for these reasons.

Internal staffing has some drawbacks. If existing employees lack skills or talent, internal recruitment yields a limited applicant pool, leading to poor selection decisions. Also, an internal recruitment policy can inhibit a company that wants to change the nature or goals of the business by bringing in outside candidates. In changing from a rapidly growing, entrepreneurial organization to a mature business with more stable growth.

External recruiting: brings in New Blood to a company and can inspire innovation. Among the most frequently used sources of outside applicants are newspaper advertisements, employee referrals, ad college campus recruiting.

Newspaper advertisement are the most popular recruiting source for many occupations, because they are inexpensive and can generate a large number of responses. Employee referral is another frequently used source of applicants, some companies actively encourage employees to refer their friends by offering cash rewards. The advantages of campus recruiting include a large pool of people from which to draw, applicants with up-to-date training, and a source of innovative ideas.

Effective Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:57:00 -0800

Most researchers evaluate effective leadership in term of the consequences of the leader's actions for followers and other organization stakeholders. Many different types of outcomes have been used, including the performance and growth of the leader's group or organization, its preparedness to deal with challenges or crises, followers satisfaction with the leader, follower commitment to the group objectives, the psychological well-being and development of followers, the leader's retention of high status in the group, and the leader's advancement to higher positions of authority in the organization.
The most commonly used measure of leader effectiveness is the extent to which the leader's organizational unit performs its task successfully and attains its goals.

The attitude of followers towards the leader is another common indicator of leader effectiveness. How well does the leader satisfy their need and expectations? Do followers like, respect, and admire the leader? Are followers strongly committed to carrying out the leader's requests, or will they resist, ignore, or subvert them?

Leader effectiveness is occasionally measure in term of the leader's contribution to the quality of group processes, as perceived by followers or by outside observers. Does the leader enhance group cohesiveness, member cooperation, member motivation, problem solving, decision making, and resolution of conflict among member? Does the leader contribute to the efficiency of role specialization, the organization of activities, the accumulation of resources, and the readiness of the group to deal with change and crises? Does the leader improve the quality of work life, build the self confidence of followers, increase their skills, and contribute to their psychological growth and development?

It is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of a leader when there are so many alternative measures of effectiveness, and it is not clear which measure is most relevant. Some researchers attempts to combine several measures into a single, composite criterion, but the approach requires subjective judgments about how to assign a weight to each measure. Multiple criteria are especially troublesome when they are negatively correlated. A negative correlation means that trade-off occur among criteria, such that as one increases, others decrease. For example, growth in sales and market share (by reducing price and increasing advertising) is sometimes achieved at the cost of lower profits. An increase in production output (by including people to work faster) is sometimes achieved at the cost of lower product quality. Rapid growth is sometimes achieved (by financing expansion with excessive debt) at the cost of a weaker financial condition that may result in bankruptcy if economic conditions suddenly worsen. Efficiency may be increased (by using more specialization) at the expense of flexibility.
By Gary Yukl

Tips to build networking

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Wed, 8 Dec 2010 23:07:00 -0800

In the business relation, relationships are based on more than who you know. It depends on who knows you. None succeeds in business without building relationships with others. Read this article tips for growing your
network of contacts while making friends as well as customers and clients.

Meeting others:

Ask the other person open-ended questions and don’t talk too much about yourself

Before offering your business card to someone, always say, “May I give you my card?”. If talking with a senior manager, wait for them to offer their card first
The proper way to shake hands is to give a firm handshake with your right hand. Always stand up to shake hands and look the person in the eye
When you greet a visitor in your office, you should tell him/her where to sit. Indicating where your guest should sit will make him/her feel more comfortable
Make friends first; business will eventually follow

Introductions:

Introduce the person with lesser authority to the person with higher authority, regardless of gender
The person to whom the introduction is made is mentioned first
Identify each person's position and provide additional information that might facilitate conversation

Networking and attending events:

Always have an agenda; know why you are attending the event and memorize names of those you wish to meet
Keep your right hand free for handshaking
Place your name tag on your right shoulder
Stay away from foods that are messy or that can’t be eaten in one bite
Don’t leave home without your business cards
Don’t talk to, or sit with, only those you know well

What does Management and its function mean to you?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Fri, 3 Dec 2010 08:01:00 -0800

Management is the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals, who good managers do both effectively and efficiently things. To be effective is to achieve organizational goals and to be efficient is to achieve goals with minimum waste of resources to make the best possible use of money, time, materials and people.

What can managers do to be effective and efficient?

The four Management Functions are:

Planning: is specifying the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions taken to achieve those goals, which include analyzing current situations, anticipating the future, determining objectives, deciding in what types of activities the company will engage, choosing corporate and business strategies, and determining the resources needed to achieve the organizational's goals. It assesses the management environment to set future objectives and map out activities to achieve those objectives. To be effective, the objectives of individuals, teams, and management should be coordinated to support the firm's mission.
Organizing: is assembling and coordinating the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals, which include attracting people to the organization, specifying job responsibilities, grouping jobs into work units, Marshalling and allocating resources, and creating conditions so that people and things work together to achieve maximum success. The deployment of resources to achieve strategic goals.
Leading: is stimulating people to be high performers, which include directing, motivating, and communicating withe employees, individually and in groups and involves close day-to-day contact with people, helping to guide and inspire them toward achieving team and organizational goals, providing an example for others to follow, and creating conditions that encourage management of diversity. It energizes people to contribute their best individually and in cooperation with other people.
Controlling: measures performance, compares it to objectives, implements necessary changes, and monitors progress. Many of these issues involve feedback or identifying potential problems and taking corrective action. Specific controlling activities are to set performance standards that indicate progress toward long-term goals; to monitor performance of people and units by collecting performance data; to provide people with feedback or information about their progress; to identify performance problems by comparing performance data against standards; and to take actions to correct problems. Budgeting, information systems, cost cutting, and disciplinary action are just a few of the tools of control. Successful organizations, large and small, pay close attention to how well they are doing. They take quick action when problems arise and are able to change as needed.

By Thomas S. Bateman and Scott A. Snell

The Basic Concepts of Statistics

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Thu, 2 Dec 2010 07:59:00 -0800

Statistics is the branch of mathematics that examines ways to process and analyze data. Statistics provides procedures to collect and transform data in ways that are useful to business decision-makers. To understand about statistics, you need to first understand the meaning of a variable.
Variables are characteristics of items or individuals.
Examples of variables are your gender, your major field of study, the amount of money you have in your wallet, and the amount of time it takes you to get ready to go to school in the morning. The key word of Variable is the idea that items differ and people differ. The person next to you may be female rather than male, may be majoring in a different
field of study than you, almost certainly has a different amount of money in their wallet, and undoubtedly takes a different amount of time to get ready in the morning than you do. You should distinguish between a variable, such as gender, and its value for an individual observation.

All variables should have an Operational definition, a universally accepted meaning that is clear to all associated with an analysis. Without operational definitions, confusion can occur. For instance, 2000 U.S. presidential election and the disputed ballots in the state of Florida. A review of 175,010 Florida ballots that were rejected for either no presidential votes or votes for two or more candidates was conducted with the help of the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago. Nine standards or operational definitions were used to evaluate these ballots. The nine standards led to different results. Three of the standards let to margins of victory for George Bush that ranged from 225 to 493 votes. Six of standards let to margins of victory for A1 Gore that ranged from 42 to 171 votes.
Now, that variable have been defined, you need to understand the meaning of population, sample, parameter, and statistic later soon in next articles.

Capital Budgeting Decision

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Wed, 1 Dec 2010 08:18:00 -0800

Capital budgeting describes decisions where expenditures and receipts for a particular undertaking will continue over a period of time. These decisions usually involve outflows of funds (expenditures) in the early periods (sometimes just one expenditure will be made at the beginning of a project, as for the purchase of a new machine), and the inflows (revenues) start somewhat later and (it is hoped) continue for a significant number of periods.

The following figures is a simple illustration of the components to be considered in making capital budgeting decisions. The figure shows one outflow at the beginning of the project and five inflows in subsequent periods. This model could represent the purchase of a new machine that will last five years and provide new revenues (or savings, if it decreases the cost of production) during that time. We could have shown an example with outflows occurring during say, the first three years. Such outflows could represent a company's decision to build a new plant and equip it with new machines. Such a large investment could easily occur over a period of three years, and revenues would not start until the fourth year or even later.

Types of Capital Budgeting decisions:

Expansion of facilities: Growing demand for a company's products leads to consideration of a new or additional plant. Planning for other new facilities, such as sales offices or warehouses, would also be included here.
New or improved products: Additional investment may be necessary to bring a new or changed product to the market.
Replacement: Replacement decisions can be of at least two types: (1) replacement of worn-out plant and equipment or (2) replacement with more efficient machines of equipment that is still operating but is obsolete.
Lease or buy: A company may need to decide whether to make a sizable investment in buying a piece of equipment or to pay rental for a considerable time period.
Make or buy: A company may be faced with deciding whether to make a significant investment to produce components for its products or whether to forgo such investment and contract for the components with a vendor.
Other: The preceding list is certainly not complete, since a capital budgeting problem exists whenever initial cash flows and subsequent cash flows are involved.
Safety or environment protection equipment:Such investments may be mandated by law and therefore are not necessarily governed by economic decision making. However, if there are alternate solutions, capital budgeting analysis may be helpful in identifying the most cost-efficient alternative.

Really want success? Start by Setting a Goal

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:28:00 -0800

For anyone who has aspirations or dreams of achieving something, setting goals is extremely important. It’s a fact that nearly everyone wants to achieve something worthwhile. Without having any goals, it would be difficult to know when any of your endeavors have been successful. Can you imagine what your life would be like without any worthwhile goals? Do you have that feeling of contentment with all your endeavors?

Regardless of what type of personality you are, you most likely have goals. You have a target as to what you want to achieve and how you will obtain it. No matter what your goal is, whether it’s a financial goal, your career, relationships, health or even your involvement with a community project, it requires a series of processes to get them fulfilled.

“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” ~ Fitzhugh Dodson

Why goal setting is important?

Have you ever starred at your keyboard and had no idea of what you wanted to write? Maybe you got in your car and had no idea of where to go? Or perhaps you picked up your phone with no idea of who to call. Those are just a few examples of what it’s like to work on something without knowing where you’re going or how to get there.

Setting goals for yourself is necessary so you can reap the valuable rewards from all your efforts. If you truly desire to attain anything, a goal setting strategy is necessary. When you set goals, it serves as a road map of how to get where you want to be, as well as the reasons why you need to get there. When setting your goals, they need to be achievable and definite. The great challenge lies in how you will climb your way to achieving your goal.

By setting a goal, you can use it as a tool to measure your progress and see how well you’re advancing. If you see that progress is being made, you will have a sense of achievement and know that your strategy of setting goals is working well for you.

Goals will inspire and motivate

Having goals is an inspiration. Whenever you set a goal, you will be much more motivated to achieve it. Goals will move you towards realizing your dream. Being too general with your goals can be a mistake as they can mislead you on what you need to focus on first. On the other hand, having a precise, well thought out goal is much easier to attain because the direction you’ll need to take is much clearer and more understandable.

When you set your goals, they should be prioritized in order of how important each of them are. For most people, there are various levels of goals and what matters most, is making certain that it’s what you want and that you have the drive and determination to reach that goal.

Your goals should always be written down but more importantly, you should believe in it with all your heart. Achieving a goal takes a great deal of focus so be sure that your goal is clear and specific and it’s exactly what you desire.

You should never be satisfied with the bare minimum achievement of your goal. That can lead you to say that you’ve already attained your goal. What you really want to do is strive for the highest level of achievement of your goal. The more you push yourself, the better you become.

Achieving goals does require a positive attitude and outlook. Once you have a specific goal in mind, you must do all you can to stay with it. We all run into obstacles along the way but we find ways to overcome them. Don’t give up on your dream when you hit the first obstacle. Find a way around it, over it or through it.

The mind is a very powerful force and when you add your willingness and determination, the achievement of any goal is possible. If you want success, start by setting a goal!

Have you set any goals for yourself? Do you feel goal setting is an important step towards success?

By Robert Barry.

What does Marketing mean in 21st century?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 00:09:00 -0800

The new economy, Consumer benefits from the digital revolution include:

Increased buying power
Greater variety of goods and services
Increased information
Enhanced shopping convenience
Greater opportunities to compare product information with others

Firm benefits in the new economy also from the digital revolution include:

New promotional medium

Access to richer research data
Enhanced employee and customer communication
Ability to customize promotions.

Kotler’s social definition that “Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others.” Another meaning, the AMA managerial definition that “Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

How to Dress for Credibility?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 23:57:00 -0800

There is an unfortunate trend of the relaxed, California lifestyle to extend to relaxed dress in the workplace, including salespeople and professionals.

Thomas actually went into the marketplace and tested how people respond to other people dressed differently in the same situation. He found that people responded much more positively to people who were dressed conservatively in a business person's suit. For men, this meant a dark blue or gray suit, long sleeved white shirt, red tie, and black, laced shoes. Although there wasn't a "uniform" standard for women at that time, Thomas suggested that women should adopt a similar look of a blue or gray skirted suit, long sleeved white blouse, red scarf, and low-heeled black pumps or a solid blue or red dress.
If you question whether these standards still apply, simply make a test for your situation. Have everyone adopt the "uniform" dress for one month, then dress down for another month and compare your results. In most cases you will find that when you and your employees are conservatively dressed, (1) customers will treat you and them with more respect and be more likely to buy more products and services, and (2) you and your employees will be more productive in general.

Just yesterday I went to Office during the day to buy some bookcases for a storage space. I was dressed in a charcoal suit, red tie and black shoes. The store manager immediately came to help me. Later, I dressed in a T shirt and jeans to pick up the bookcases. The store manager didn't recognize me(!) and I went to him to find out where to pick up the bookcases.

Have you ever gone to a store dressed in a suit and had another customer approach you to ask if you worked there? Seeing you properly dressed, that person automatically assumed you were a person of authority.

It's common sense that we make an initial judgment of people we meet in the first 30 seconds or less. That judgment is based mostly on what we see. And most of what we see is what that person is wearing. (Yes, hair cuts and facial hair count too!)

I'm a tax accountant. People who do business with me are looking for financial advice and possibly representation in dealing with the IRS. Who would you trust with your finances? Who would you want to represent you before the IRS? Someone dressed in a suit, black shoes and "power tie," or someone dressed in a sport shirt, sneakers and slacks?

In a sales or negotiation situation, the first step is to get a person to like us and trust us. They are more likely to trust and treat as an authority figure a person who is conservatively dressed. Admittedly, there are some people who don't trust people in suits. Avoiding very "flashy" outfits helps to reduce this backlash. But these people are a small minority.

So when you or your employees are going to be interacting with the public or negotiating a transaction, give yourselves an important "edge" of credibility by dressing properly.

Tips to Measure Your Way to Business Success!

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:40:00 -0800

Traditionally, accountants have reported business results using balance sheets and income statements. These statements include information that is particularly helpful for investors and credit givers. They also include important information for the management of the business to evaluate the financial health of the business. However, these statements are of results. In order for management and team members to better direct the business, the activities of the business need to be correlated with the results they generate.

Most of the activities to be measured should reflect how the business gives value to its clients and customers. The things that must be done right for the business to be successful can be called critical success factors. Measures that correlate to critical success factors can be called key performance indicators.

In their book Measure Up, Richard Lynch and Kelvin Cross suggest measures should be identified in the areas of quality, delivery, cycle time, and waste.

By measuring the activities in these areas, the team can evaluate alternative approaches to be more effective (doing the right things) and efficient (doing things right).

By sharing measurement information, the team gets feedback and focus. What you can measure you can manage; and, What gets measured gets done!

In the early 1900's, Frank Bettger became the leading salesperson for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance company. One of the ways Frank improved his performance was by keeping records of the results of his sales calls. 70% of his sales were closed on the first interview. 7% were closed after the second interview. Frank had been spending 70% of his time on calls after the second interview. He eliminated calls beyond the second interview and boosted his performance by focusing on more new prospects. Frank also correlated the amount of sales with the number of calls made. Frank managed himself by monitoring the value of his calls and eventually increased the value from $2.30 to $19.00. (Remember, in the early 1900's a dollar was worth considerably more than today.) This kept him focused on planning his time to maximize the number of calls made and allowed him to plan his income for the year by planning the number of calls to be made each week.

A machine shop started measuring waste by weighing a trailer where scrap was stored and posting the figures for the team members' information. The scrap expense decreased by $30,000. Later, the owner decided to stop weighing the scrap. Scrap expense increased again by $30,000.

In developing a business improvement program, the team must develop performance standards that can be measured. Implementing a measurement program gives substance and definition to plans that would otherwise be vague.

How to avoid giving your customers unpleasant surprises?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:39:00 -0800

Vuthy and I took the last Asia tour from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Hochiminh,Vietnam. The bus driver showed us where we were to meet him at the end of the day, by the old mental hospital. Then he dropped us off at the other end of town.

According to the description of the tour, the bus was to return to Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Hochiminh, Vietnam at 7 p.m.

We had a great day, working our way through the former capital. Then we had dinner at a nice restaurant and took time for dessert. As we were walking down the street to the meeting place, imagine our shock when at 6:28 p.m., the bus drove past us! We tried waving and chasing the bus until we saw it drive around a corner. Then we went to the meeting place, hoping it would return. It didn’t.

A shuttle bus took us to the Visitors Center and from there we found our way to a local hotel. The desk clerk checked the bus and train schedules. The last train left at 4:30 p.m. We spent the night and took the bus back to Phnom Penh, Cambodia the next morning.

The bus driver might have had a good reason for leaving at 6:30 p.m. Maybe he had a family event to get to, like a birthday party, or was meeting a relative at the airport.

But we think that bringing people to a strange place and expecting them to be at the meeting place using those instructions wasn’t reasonable.

For clarity, all he needed to say was, "Folks, I need to leave at 6:30 p.m. sharp, so please meet me here at 6:15 p.m. or you could miss the bus."

What are you or your employees doing that irritates your customers? Nordstrom has gone to the extreme to please its customers. It has given refunds for goods it didn’t even sell. Read the complaint letters that your customers send to your company. Ask your customers what they would alter or improve about how you do business with them. Establish procedures to help minimize "key irritations". Have training sessions with your employees to discuss these issues and teach them how to avoid them.

We know it costs considerably more to get a new customer than to keep an existing customer happy. We also know the best source of new customers is customers that we already have.

So, "put a plug in the drain" of your "business bathtub," and you’ll enjoy more business success.

What does Rich Dad, Poor Dad mean to You?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:14:00 -0800

What is the difference in the world view and attitude of people who become rich compared to other people? What things do they do differently to have such different results in their lives?

Robert T. Kiyosaki had a unique opportunity to find out. Robert's father was an educator and public administrator. When Robert was a young boy, he and his friend, Mike decided they wanted to learn how to become rich. They started by trying to make (counterfeit) money.

Robert's father explained to the boys this was illegal. He also admitted he did not know how to become rich, but suggested the boys ask Mike's father how to go about it. So Mike's father, an independent businessperson, became a mentor to Robert, his "Rich Dad."

This book is the fascinating story of how the Rich Dad taught Robert the lessons he needed to learn to make himself financially independent. Robert has learned that our educational system is pretty good at producing employees, but not very good at producing people who are good at managing their finances wisely. He now teaches people how to apply the principles of becoming rich. In addition to publishing the information in this book, he has developed a game, CASHFLOW(tm) 101 to help people develop their financial intelligence.

Some of the ideas Robert presents reinforce those in other books we have reviewed. Like The Millionaire Next Door, Robert points out the difference between having a big salary and building wealth. Like The Richest Man In Babylon, Robert emphasizes the importance of paying yourself first. In his opinion, it's more important to systematically invest a portion of your income than to pay your bills or to pay your taxes. (A controversial concept.)

Robert also has a definition of an asset versus a liability that is different from conventional accounting. Investors generally focus on accumulating assets and avoid liabilities. Simply stated, assets generate income or cash. Liabilities consume cash. Rich people accumulate assets. People who aren't rich accumulate liabilities. Some things that look like assets are actually liabilities - for example: a residence, a car, a boat. When we accumulate these things, we are not really accumulating wealth, we are consuming it. If we haven't accumulated sufficient assets and we acquire these "toy" liabilities, we are putting the cart before the horse. Instead, we should emphasize regularly acquiring stocks, bonds, tax lien certificates, rental real estate, and other investments. We also need to learn to build value and get some tax shelter by building our own business.

Robert acknowledges that it is possible to use the principle of compound interest and regular saving to achieve financial independence. The problem with this approach is it's a long, patient one. Most people get started too late for it to work.

The rest of us must develop our financial intelligence, make risk our friend, and accelerate our financial growth. Although diversification is appropriate for preserving accumulated wealth, the investor usually must take the additional risk of focused investments in order to initially accumulate wealth. Bigger returns require accepting more risk.

How to Reduce Your Estate Tax For A Family Business By 35% Or More!

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:07:00 -0800

One of the most burdensome of all taxes is the Federal Estate Tax. After applying the "credit equivalent amount" that is exempt from tax, the initial marginal tax rate is 37%! With "phase-outs," the marginal tax rate may be as high as 60%! (For each additional $1 transferred, your estate must pay up to 60 cents in tax.)

The good news is that, with proper planning, a significant portion of the estate tax may be deferred or avoided.

The Benefits of Lifetime Giving:

A number of techniques are available, but it is significant to point out most of them are based on lifetime gift programs, often including using trusts created during your lifetime! After a person is deceased, the planning opportunities are much more limited. Significantly, gift taxes paid during your lifetime are generally not included in your gross estate, but the gift tax is not a deduction in determining the estate tax after your death. In other words, you receive an estate tax reduction of up to 60% of the gift taxes you pay for transfers during your lifetime.
Caution!

If you need to keep your assets in order to maintain your standard of living and to provide for contingencies such as long-term car, you probably shouldn't pursue an aggressive lifetime giving "wealth preservation" program.

In some cases, receiving significant gifts can corrupt the beneficiaries, eliminating their motivation to work. Don't let the "tax tail" wag the dog! Maybe a charitable giving program makes sense in this situation. (Outright bequests to charities are not subject to estate or gift taxes.)
Family Wealth Planning Using The Family Business.

In the situation where the beneficiaries are compatible and have an interest in maintaining the assets of the family, particularly real estate or a family business, significant estate (and, in some cases, income) tax benefits may be secured using a family business structure. The most popular structures right now are the family limited partnership and the family limited liability company, principally because the permit the donor(s) to retain management control of the assets that are given during his, her, or their life and have significant operational flexibility compared to a corporate structure.

The principle on which the estate tax reduction is based is that a minority interest has a disproportionately lower value than a majority interest in the whole. For example, suppose a partnership's business could be sold as a whole for $1,000,000. An investor might only be willing to pay about $150,000 for a 25% interest in the partnership, because he or she would be unable to control the partnership or easily sell the partnership interest. We call the difference between the amount a buyer would pay for a fractional interest (in the example, $150,000) and the proportionate value of the interest based on the whole (in the example, $250,000) a valuation adjustment. Valuation adjustments (reductions) of 35% and up have been defended for partnership interests where there was a lack of control and a lack of marketability.

A donor may make annual fractional gifts to use his or her annual gift exclusion ($10,000 per donor, per donee, per year) and lifetime credit exclusion ($600,000 for 1997, increasing to $1 million in 2006), thus securing the valuation adjustments for the gifts. If the donor retains less than a 50% interest at his or her death, that interest should also qualify for a valuation adjustment.
Using Entity Fractionalization For Investment Assets.

Should a family limited partnership or limited liability company be used to hold liquid investments, such as securities, cash and life insurance policies? Such entities may be defended if a legitimate purpose can be established for them, but expect an especially vigorous attack by the IRS. This strategy has been targeted as vulnerable.

What The IRS Doesn't Want You To Know:

The IRS hates these programs, and has attacked them vigorously. They have mostly failed in their efforts, except in the case where the transfers were made shortly before death. When the plan is done properly, the IRS will almost always capitulate or make a significant concession in settling the issue.
Properly Implementing A Family Wealth Plan Is A Worthwhile Investment.

When you are seeking significant tax benefits from this type of plan, it doesn't make sense to "cut corners." A competent attorney should prepare the documents. Valuations should be prepared by a qualified appraiser who is educated in this area. You should use a qualified tax advisor, such as a CPA, to assist in assuring the entity is operated properly, including setting up a separate bank account, setting up sparate books and records, properly paying proportionate benefits to partners/members, and preparing income tax returns. The up-front investment will pay dividends to your beneficiaries in tax benefits and avoided litigation costs.

When Does Entity Fractionalization Make Sense?
As you can see from the above discussion, the entity fractionalization strategy can require a significant investment in professional fees and potential litigation costs. There are three situations where the strategy makes sense. 1) There are assets of significant value to be transferred. ($1 million is worth thinking about. $2 million requires more serious consideration.) 2) The business has a potential for significant growth in value. (Such as a high technology start up.) 3) The business is generating significant income.

Call Today For An Appointment:

Are you an aggressive taxpayer who is willing to play the "valuation game" for significant tax benefits? If so, call Mike Gray today at (408) 918-3161 for an appointment.

IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: As required by U.S. Treasury Regulations, you are hereby advised that any written tax advice contained on this website was not written or intended to be used (and cannot be used) by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

What is Good Customer Care?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:34:00 -0800

Good customer care is about:

Meeting the customer‘s needs.
Knowing how to deal effectively with customers in all circumstances.
Building good working relationships with colleagues.
Managing communication, expectation and perception.

Who are our customers?

External customers: students, parents, funders, public agencies, business partners, etc.
Internal customers: our colleagues.

We don‘t all deal directly with external customers but those who do cannot provide a good service unless they are well supported by the rest of us.
Working on reception:

Make eye contact with the customer and smile.
If you‘re busy and you have to keep them waiting acknowledge their presence, let them know that you are aware that they are waiting.
Greet them – Good morning or hello.
Find out the customer‘s name and use it.
Introduce yourself or at least be identifiable – wear a name badge or have a name plate on your desk.
Listen carefully. Make notes if needed
Watch your body language – it needs to reflect the smile.
Know what services, resources and other staff are available to help you.
If there are two of you on the reception desk don‘t talk to each other while dealing with a customer.
If you can‘t provide what is asked for, offer the customer an alternative.
Concentrate on your customer.

What do Customers want?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:15:00 -0800

Many reasons that Customers do want from suppliers or vendors:

Friendly Caring Service: Friendly caring service means more than being polite Customers want to feel that they are important.
Flexibility: When the service delivery is not meeting customer’s needs, customers want the person helping them to jiggle the system to make it work for them. Customers do not want to hear “no”. They want you to work out a way to get them what they want or need.

Problem Resolution: When customers have business problems that need some attention, they want to know that you will help them find an answer, even if you can’t handle it yourself. They want to know that they will not be transferred to somebody else and have to explain their problem all over again.
Service Recovery: When a mistake is made, customers want it to be put right quickly and to their satisfaction. They want some sort of action that recognizes a mistake has been made and show that you are trying to put it right. When you “recover” well – your customer may be even more loyal than before.

How do create the GREAT service experience for the customers?

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 09:02:00 -0800

How do create the GREAT service experience for the customers?

I. Human Level:

The Human element is used to establish a link with the customer. We wish to care for the customer’s needs and defuse his emotions. This can be done by some of the following:

Being understanding – address the customer’s concerns or emotions,
Offer appropriate gestures of kindness and warmth
Listening – Knowing what the customer wants or needs

Establishing rapport through use of empathy, tone and language – make customer feel important.

II. Business Level:
The business element is the process where the customers’ needs are being fulfilled, their complaints are being handled and when the actual interaction in the business context takes place. You may do the following:

Giving required information
Offering assistance / solutions/ options
Referral to relevant departments/units

As customers, we all want to have our needs met by the service provider, both the human and business levels. We also want to feel special. And indeed, each customer is different.

Therefore, in using the Human Business model, we must vary it according to the profiles of customers we are dealing with.

Business Success: No Pain, No Change!

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:57:00 -0800

Whenever I sit with a client who has hired me to assess and identify ways to streamline their business operations, we eventually get around to what I call the “no pain, no change” discussion. I can present a neatly packaged assessment report with recommendations for increasing efficiencies or streamlining processes, but new efficiencies and streamlining requires change. And, change typically meets with resistance because the way of doing things has become habitual.

As the old adage goes, old habits die hard. It happens just as frequently in one-person operations as it does in businesses with 10s, 100s, or even 1,000s of employees. It’s just easier to take the path of least resistance by doing what we have always done. And, until you realize how ‘doing what you’ve always done’ dramatically affects your bottom line, change is less likely to occur. For any change in behavior, procedure or practice, there must be a desire for it – the benefits of change must become more attractive than the comfort of keeping old habits.

So how can a desire for change be ignited?

That’s where the “no pain, no change” discussion starts. Quite simply, I relate the recommendations I make to actual bottom-line benefits. Let me demonstrate by using a real-life client example.

Overtime Expense Skyrockets

In a business assessment I did last year for a property management company, processing tenant payments was a four-step process from the moment the payment arrived, to the final posting and deposit of the funds. The company had two co-owners and four employees. Three of the four employees were involved in the payment processing procedure.

Now, this may sound like no big deal to you, but keep in mind that, as a property management company, they receive several hundreds of payments from tenants nearly every week for all of the properties they manage. There are many days when no other work is tended to, and they clock overtime to process checks the same day they are received; and then they clock more overtime to catch up on the work that was cast to the side. The more property contracts the business acquires, the more time it takes to process payments. The more time it takes, the more man hours are clocked. The more man hours needed, the less efficient – and more costly – the process becomes.

After talking with employees to understand the process they were using, and listening to the frustrations they were experiencing, it quickly became evident that the current procedure had lost significant value. What used to work perfectly had now become not only more vulnerable to errors, but costly. And, with the business continuing to grow, this was not a short-term challenge.

Cost-Containing Solution

With minimal investigation I discovered that the process could be shortened to two steps, performed by two employees, with one simple solution — an upgrade of the property management software they were using.

Naturally, the software upgrade was prominently placed in my assessment and recommendations report. I knew, however, that the owners would view this as an expense that would cost them more than $2,000 and, therefore would not likely top their To-Do list.

Time for the “no pain, no change” discussion.

In addition to recommending the software upgrade, I detailed a conservative estimation of the current ‘real’ costs associated with this procedure that primarily consisted of overtime and error reconciliation. I then detailed the estimated resulting costs associated with implementing the upgrade. The difference? A savings of nearly $7,500 a year! That’s a significant profit leak for a small, 6-person operation.

Do you think the owners were more motivated to change the habit that currently supports the $7,500 profit-draining leak? You bet they were! Suddenly, it was evident that the $2,000 software upgrade was an investment, not an expense. It carries measurable ROI.

Because I could demonstrate an immediate (financial) pain, there was an increase in desire for immediate (procedural) change. Every critical process of your own business should be looked at with this same “no pain, no change” assessment.

What is it really costing you to do what you’ve always done?

Identify the pain, and you’ll increase desire for change.

How to Get Clients to Pay up!

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:47:00 -0800

Independents, sole proprietors, freelancers… anyone who deals with minimum cash flow knows the anxiety that comes with a client or customer who doesn’t pay. You can put “net 10 days” on your invoices, but most of the time it’s ignored by both big business clients and small business clients.

As an independent myself, I face these same challenges. In large companies, the red tape is long and knotted – and if there’s just one little hold up in the approval process, you can be waiting 45-60-90 days for payment. It eats up a lot of follow up time that could be better spent on building your business, not serving as bill collector. Sometimes you can plead your case and get paid quicker, and sometimes you have to resign yourself to their system.

However, a handful of small business clients ignored my “net 10 days” invoices, too. As my Accounts Receivables grew, so did my anger. So, instead of just sending “past due” notices, I got on the phone (something that is hard for me to do since I’m pretty non-confrontational) to ask, “What’s the deal”?

The majority of the responses I received all boiled down to one, domino-ing reason: “I can’t pay you because my customers aren’t paying me.”

Can I understand this explanation? Yes, most definitely.

Will I accept it? No, most definitely not!

It doesn’t matter how much compassion I feel for another business owner, my priority is to my business and the people who rely on me to keep it running. I cannot – correct that – I WILL not allow a client to pass his/her money problems on to me. I find ways to pay my bills, even when clients aren’t paying me, and I expect the same from those who owe me money.

Here are the two solutions that helped me take more control of getting paid and could help you, too:

1. Establish a Merchant Account:

Whether you sell products or offer services, establishing a merchant account is the easiest way to ensure you get paid.

A merchant account, in my view, is the top headache relief medicine for any small business owner. The small percentage you are charged for each transaction is a pittance compared to the time, postage, worry and frustration of constantly sending out reminder and “past due” notices.

This one action has eliminated 99% of my accounts receivable problems. If you initiate very few transactions or don’t want to go through the hassle of working through a bank to establish an account, the easiest way to accept credit cards is through PayPal.

2. Get Signed Payments Agreement:

So what about the clients who do not have business account credit cards, or simply choose not to use them? State payment terms right up front. You must let people know immediately what your expectation for payment is. For example:

In a retail business, cash or credit card payment is the norm. If you stick with simply having a merchant account for the major cards, you will have few problems. If you have a store credit system or “house” accounts, then you are leaving yourself open to greater risk. Make sure terms, limits and conditions are stated – and enforced. If there is a late penalty, make sure it’s immediately charged. If a payment is missed, further credit will be suspended until the account is up to date. If you fear losing the business of someone you consider “one of my best customers” but they owe you thousands of dollars, how good can that customer possibly be?

In my business, a typical project can span a 3-6 month time frame from start to finish. However, just as it would be unreasonable for me to ask for total payment upfront, it would also be stupid of me to begin a project without some monetary commitment. So, I use an incremental payment agreement that is presented at the same time I submit my project proposal. When the client signs the agreement for the project, he/she is also signing the agreement for payment that is tied to the delivery of the work. No payment–no delivery. Period.

Marketing Management and Marketing Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:36:00 -0800

How much should I spend on marketing?

This is a common question that marketing consultants gets asked on a regular basis.

The simple answer is that there is no hard a fast rule – it depends on the competitive environment, the stage of business development, the product or service category and the balance of advertising designed to promote the brand with advertising designed to generate a specific response.

As a result of these factors, marketing budgets are best set based on careful analysis of a number of factors as part of a Marketing Strategy not via the often used % of sales method.

If you are looking to develop a deeper understanding of your marketing budget then there are two good places to start:

1. Brand Awareness- Analysing the level of advertising that is appropriate to reach your target markets with appropriate levels of frequency and credibility

2. Specific Response – Analysing the response and conversion rates you are achieving from various forms of advertising

Brand awareness is a direct product of the Marketing Strategy – by identifying the key target markets and having an understanding of the competitive environment it is possible to establish a picture of the level and types of “brand” advertising required to generate awareness of the brand for new customers and reinforce the message with existing consumers.

Planning the elements of the campaign designed to generate a specific response is more closely aligned with the sales budgets and requires analysis of the response and conversion rates you are achieving from various forms of advertising.

Five Steps to Massive Profits

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:27:00 -0800

Here’s a business marketing tip to gain maximum profit from any product or service in your business marketing lineup, and how you will gain extreme profits when you follow these 5 simple, LAZY steps;

1. Look not at what you are offering through your business marketing efforts – look at WHO WILL BUY your product/service. Make a picture of your ‘typical buyer’ – who they are, their age, what they like to do, etc. This is often known as the ‘target market prospect’, yet, the more detailed you define this ‘target’ in your business marketing, the better.

I’ve even gone to the point of giving this ‘target market’ person a name and put a picture up on my computer monitor (find a ‘friendly face’ on the Internet somewhere and ‘tag’ it as your target market prospect) – get your business marketing centered around every aspect of your target – the more you know them, the easier it is to chat about what they need.

2. Develop a list of your target market prospect’s likes and dislikes as it would relate to a product/service similar to yours. (You’ll get a ‘third party’ look at your competition, as well as some inside looks at their business marketing efforts.)

Consider some questions they would have, or some typical objections to buying this similar product/service (this may come from your previous research, or you may have to simply do some).

One way to personalize the business marketing research of your ‘target market prospect’ is to ‘role play’ – think about your prospect as a good friend that you are having a picnic with (or even a co-worker at the water cooler, etc.) and in passing, your friend brings up that ‘similar’ product/service.

What do they say about it?
What are their questions/concerns?

Is there a ‘running joke’ about the competition’s product/service that defines a hole in their business marketing? (i.e., “Did you hear about the lady that used X?”)

All these things need to be addressed, and documented.

Let your mind be creative and wander, but keep it to a time limit – about 15-20 minutes per business marketing ‘play’ session. Think of nothing but this ‘conversation’ during this creative (often fun) time.

It might even be helpful for you to say everything that comes to mind out loud during these business marketing planning sessions(as silly as that sounds, it works…) and record it, as some of the best business marketing ideas get overlooked when you are trying to write them down quickly.

Listening back for those ‘nuggets’ might even trigger other ‘bits of business marketing gold’ for you to work with.

3. Figure out how your product/service and business marketing plan is similar, yet different than the competition. Just how does your solution overcome all the questions, concerns and yes, even ‘jokes’ from your target?

If you can’t answer these questions for yourself, how would you expect to answer them from your prospect?

The beautiful part about this business marketing exercise is that, if you go through it with commitment, you will already know the answers to the prospect’s questions BEFORE they ask them – which quickly eliminates any fears you might have about talking with them.

4. Continue this simple exercise – every couple days for a week or so. Giving 15-20 minutes of serious thought to your business marketing plan and role playing every couple days will stimulate your conscious mind, as well as keep your unconscious mind actively thinking about it.

You’ll be surprised at the outcome of taking these steps seriously.

But be forewarned – you will very likely have a very different outlook about your prospect after one week of this simple, yet extremely effective business marketing, ‘target market’ finding tool!

You will know them as well as you know yourself, so you will be able to talk with them about things quickly, simply and with the best, consistent results of your business marketing efforts.

5. Now, take a look at your product/service and business marketing plan – through the prospect’s eyes (now that you can clearly see through them…)

Do Correct Investment in Business Opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 20:29:00 -0800

Business opportunities are only good when you know what you want and what you are doing. All to often people let a good business opportunity pass them by or they will jump into something when they really don't know what they are getting themselves into. The business opportunities are only as good as the person who is investing in them. If you do things correctly then your business will grow and expand.

There some things that you should keep in mind when you are looking to

get involved in some business opportunities. You should never believe claims that you can make money with little no effort. Any business opportunity that you come across will require that you put in the time and effort in order to make this business opportunity work. If you are not willing to put in the effort then there is not guarantee that you business opportunities will flourish.

If you are interested in certain business opportunities than you should get all needed information in writing before you commit to anything. If you are in contact that with someone who is selling a franchise or business opportunities then you should be able to get all needed information from them. This information should include any past financial information, employers and contact people as well as some predictions for the future. Seeing all of this information written down can help you to get a clear picture of what you could possibly be getting yourself into.

Business opportunities are not without their risks and this is something that you should always keep in mind. All to often people invest thousands of dollars into a company or business opportunity and then are amazed when the company fails or does not live up to what they expected and they wonder what they will do now that all the money is gone. People sometimes forget that there is a chance that they will lose everything. If you are not willing to take this risk then there are certain business opportunities that you should stay away from.

When You Have a Business For Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Cthi) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 20:11:00 -0800

There comes a point in every business owner's life that they consider selling their business. Some people must sell their business because they have no other choice in the matter. However, no matter what the reason for having a business for sale there are certain things that every owner must do before someone will buy the business.

When you have a business for sale you must always ensure that you keep your financial reports and tax files current. Having up to date for potential buyers will make them more willing to buy the business then if everything was out dated and not organized at all. If people see that you are not up to date with all of your reports then

they will begin to wonder why and they might even be scared off from buying your business.

When you have a business for sale it is always a good idea to sell your business at the perfect time. But people may question when is the perfect time to sell a business. Realtors will tell you to sell when the market is hot. This means that you should avoid trying to sell your business when there is a downturn. You should sell when the market is just right. This rule only applies when the owner has a choice when they want to sell. If you are selling because you absolutely have to then you may need to sell when the markets are poor.

When selling a business some people try to make sure that they get all their money back when they sell. Therefore they put a price on the business that some might consider outrageous and unrealistic. This means that the owner who has the business for sale will have a great deal of trouble selling the business. Therefore you must put a realistic price tag on the business. You can price it a little higher than you are willing to sell it for this way you have some bargaining room, but you should not aim to high.