Business

How to Get the Lowest Interest Rates When Refinancing Education Loans

Refinancing education loans can seem complicated. However, it doesn’t have to be. Refinancing is just another option to help you save money by consolidating multiple student loan balances into one new loan. The new education loan has a lower interest rate and reduced monthly payments to help you pay off the loan amount smoothly. However, before getting approved to refinance, it is essential to come up with a strategy. You should have a game plan that can help strengthen your case and take advantage of the lowest possible interest rate. Here’s how to get started.

  • Evaluate your cost of living

Some cities have a higher cost of living than others. Also, living alone or with a roommate can significantly affect your spending. You should understand that the cost of living is an important aspect for refinancing companies to consider. Therefore, it is better to make lifestyle decisions that can help you free up more cash. You can start by renting a smaller apartment or renting a cheaper car if you are going to pursue higher education in a city like Manhattan. Similarly, if you’re moving to an affordable city, it’s best to file a refinance application at least two months after you move. This is an important step because refinancing companies prefer candidates who have a life budget that allows them to have a steady cash flow each month to pay off the loan payments rather than those who throw away their savings.

  • Check your credit score

There are many refinancing companies that consider the borrower’s credit rating as a criterion. A good credit report helps ensure a low interest rate on education loans, both secured and unsecured. You can significantly improve your credit score by generally paying all bills up front. It’s also helpful to cut back on your credit card use for a few months before you apply for a new student loan. There are various websites such as the annual credit report. com, who can help you evaluate and improve your score.

  • Provide a full history

Most refinancing companies require you to provide a complete picture of your educational qualifications and relevant work experience. So if you’ve studied science, math, engineering, or business at a reputable school, it’s always helpful to include that information in your case. The same goes for practical skills and total work experience because all of that generally makes you attractive as an applicant who can continue to make the payments. Also, if you have a job offer in hand, be sure to include the offer letter with your application.

  • Show all sources of income

Before submitting your application, be sure to provide information about any and all sources of income and not just earnings from work. You can list dividends, bonuses, interest earned, and any other prospects for making money. Remember, with a higher income, you will be able to put more cash into the refinancing equation. Therefore, it is helpful to keep proof of income, such as tax returns and interest statements. Also, make sure you have a current driver’s license and that your private education loan statements are correct.

  • Be flexible

If you have multiple student loans and aren’t getting the best possible rate, it’s best to refinance just a couple of loans. There is a possibility that you can take advantage of lower interest rates with a smaller refinance balance. You always have the option to request the full balance later when you have better sources of income or relocate to an affordable location. Adding a co-signer also helps improve your chances of approval.

Business

Boxing Franchises – Are They Profitable?

Boxing Franchises

Buying a franchise can be a daunting task. However, with the help of a franchise business acquisition service, you will be able to make an informed decision. Before buying a franchise, you should know the projected profits of the company and the required financial investment. This will allow you to have a better idea about the amount of capital you will need to start your business.

boxing club franchise

Most franchisors require a minimum capital investment. This can be in the form of a security deposit, a building fee, and other fees. It also depends on the brand that you choose. The cost of a boxing franchise varies. The entry price can be as low as $160,000 or as high as $520,110. The investment includes various fees such as the real estate costs, pre-opening marketing, and territory fees.

Some of the factors that contribute to the profitability of a boxing franchise are its location, its franchising model, and the perceived value of its products. Depending on the number of units owned by the franchise, revenues can range from $100,000 to more than $250,000 per year. The profitability of a boxing gym franchise can also be affected by the size of the community and the ability of the gym owner to communicate the value of the gym.

Boxing Franchises – Are They Profitable?

A boxing gym franchise requires a lot of work and attention to detail. A boxing club owner must be present at events, promote the business, and communicate the value of the club to the community. If the gym owner fails to acquire the necessary licenses and permits, the business may be shut down.

boxing club franchise business

In recent years, boxing gyms have shown tremendous promise. With a low entry investment, the boxing gym can earn a healthy profit. The owner can charge $30 per class, and can earn $1,500 per month. The profit is higher when the owner includes a variety of training classes and other amenities. The boxing club is also a great place to meet other people.

The boxing gym is a competitive industry. This is especially true with social media, which is a common method of advertising. In fact, eighty-one percent of consumers are influenced by social media posts.

boxing club franchise investment

The management team at South Beach Boxing stands out from other fitness franchises. They offer unrivaled support and training. They also have a strong operating system. They have implemented several initiatives to improve the unit economics of their franchisees. The initiatives focused on boosting marketing efforts and focusing on improving the way training is delivered.

The CEO of TITLE Boxing Club, Todd Wadler, and Chief Revenue Officer, Felicia Alexander, have collected feedback from their franchise partners. These inputs have paved the way for improved and efficient technology and marketing strategies. As a result, the TITLE Boxing Club franchise has seen an increase in profitability. The TITLE Boxing Club is now the nation’s leading boutique boxing franchise. The company plans to expand to over 300 locations nationwide by 2025.

Business

The best retirement income for 2021

There are two types of income you can have (according to the IRS). That is active (or earned) income or passive (unearned) income. The difference is in how it is obtained and how it is taxed

How to earn money in retirement

Active income is money you exchange your work for. I do it part time.

The easiest way to supplement your retirement income is to simply keep working, whether full or part time. Assuming you are physically and mentally capable of continuing to work. Being mentally capable is very important. If you’re dissatisfied with your retirement job or don’t like what you’re doing, it can have an adverse effect on your physical health.

Active or income from work can be done almost immediately, but passive income takes time to be generated and usually requires some upfront investment.

Everyone knows how to generate active income. You work for it and you get paid for your work. That’s what many retirees do, including me, whether full or part time. In fact, I worked part-time for about ten years in the same profession from which I retired.

What I want to mention is passive income. It takes some work to get it started, but once the money starts coming in, there may be very little you need to do except maintenance to keep it running.

If you are willing to put in some research, learning time, and money, NOTHING BETTER PASSIVE INCOME..

How to generate passive income?

Passive income is what you do not exchange your work for. This could include investments, residual income, affiliate income, or rental income.

passive income it always takes a while to get started. As I mentioned, getting into this type of income stream is very dependent on how quickly you need extra money. I have listed four sources of passive income and there are probably many more, but these may give you something to think about.

investment income: People who have invested in the stock market, either directly or through mutual funds, have made a lot of money since November 2016.

Investing in the stock market probably involves the greatest financial risk, and if done carefully, it can be the most lucrative. There is tons of information that could be useful in helping you make an informed investment decision.

Personally, I would start by learning how to invest and then start with a small amount of money that I could lose and not worry about. It may be beneficial to do some simulated stock trading to learn how the process works.

Affiliate Marketing: Building an online business takes a long time. Every overnight success story you hear comes after months or years of research, study, and hard work. But if you have an idea for a service or product that can be done online, it may be worth the effort to pursue it. Think Angie’s list, eBay or Facebook.

Affiliate marketing requires the skills and knowledge to develop a website and content that fits the There are many Amazon online merchants that offer affiliate programs. Do a search for a niche, products or services that you would consider.

Rental income: If you have enough money to buy a few rental units, this may be the best way to supplement your retirement income and leave a legacy for your family. Do some research on multi-family housing, apartments, or commercial properties and see what’s available in your area. I know a guy who took equity out of his house to buy a rental unit. It worked for him, but it’s an idea that might not be for everyone.

Don’t jump into being a homeowner without learning how to do it. There is much more than just buying a property and renting it out. There are government regulations to comply with and tax regulations to be taken into account.

If you decide to own, find out about buying and owning rental units. Get a spreadsheet to plug in some numbers to see how specific properties will generate income. Learn about the tenant/landlord laws in your area and get advice from a real estate professional you trust.

Business

Understanding domain registration and website hosting

When we think of hosting a website for our individual or business purpose, we have to think of two things; one is the domain name or address of the website, secondly; the web hosting service. In today’s world, it has become a mandatory requirement to have your own domain name for your website. To connect people over the Internet, a name or number must be entered into your computer, and this must be a unique name or number so that the computer can find it.

A domain name can be a single name or more parts, and technically we can call them labels that connect different strings of characters and are delimited by a period, like amitbhawani.com. There may be different names ending in .com, .gov, .co, .edu, .in, etc. and they all denote different activities or functions such as .com for commercial sites, .gov for government related sites, .edu for an educational institution or university, etc. There are now over a hundred different tlds available with which you can register your desired domain name and then host your website.

Registration of a domain name by a domain name registrar such as GoDaddy.com, Dotster.com, Register.com, Hostbrains.com, Moniker.com, 1&1 internet, etc. at an organization called ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) based in the US, at a marginal fee. It is a non-profit organization formed in 1998 with participants from all over the world. ICANN is in charge of coordinating unique names and identification numbers globally to make the Internet available and work effectively. Some web hosting companies offer free domain name registration when you purchase an annual web hosting package based on their marketing plans.

After registering the domain name, you can search for a web developer for the contents and a web hosting company to host your website. Hosting means making your website accessible through a web browser such as Windows Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc. through a data center server from where it connects to the internet. Website hosting done by many companies and different hosting models available like shared, dedicated, colocation, free hosting services etc. For a beginner, shared web hosting or free space can be selected. For more advanced businesses or enterprises, dedicated or co-located hosting may be considered because the requirements would be higher for businesses and a custom dedicated web server would complete these requirements.

Business

SWOT Unraveled – Uncovering Your SWOT Strengths and Weaknesses

The SWOT analysis technique is used to summarize your strategic analysis which includes both your internal and external analysis. This summary is classified into four categories. These four categories are Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

Today, we’ll clarify the category of strengths for you, and also provide you with a list of common strengths that you may encounter in your business.

The Golden Rule of Strengths: Strengths are characteristics of your business, they can only be identified in your internal analysis, since your internal analysis is the only type of strategic analysis that evaluates the characteristics of your business.

Now, let’s define strengths and take a look at typical business characteristics that are commonly classified as strengths.

Defined force: Strengths are the core capabilities of your business. These are areas where your business has an advantage over your competitor(s) that is valued by your customers.

In other words, strengths are features of your business that pass the test better than your competitors.

Key point recap: You will only find strengths by completing your internal analysis, a strength must be characteristics of your business.

Understand the strengths

Upon completing your internal analysis, you will find that your strengths will generally fit into two categories, tangible and intangible strengths. let’s look at them both

  1. Tangible Strengths: A tangible strength is a feature of your business that can be accurately identified, measured, or realized.
  2. Intangible Strengths: An intangible strength is a feature of your business that cannot be physically touched or measured.

Now, we’ll look at examples of common tangible and intangible strengths that can be found in your business.

Examples of tangible strengths

Your tangible strengths will tend to include characteristics about your business such as

  • Your physical assets, including the plant, equipment buildings, and infrastructure
  • Long-term rental contracts in good locations
  • Unique or market leading products
  • Access to sufficient financial resources to fund any strategic changes you would like to make
  • Cost advantages over your competitors (This relates to your ability to provide the goods or services at a lower cost than your competitors. It does not refer to the selling price)
  • Volume, loud volume can be a strength
  • Ability to scale volume up or down with relative ease

Examples of intangible strengths

Your tangible strengths will tend to include characteristics about your business such as

  • The strength of your brand(s), such as having strong, easily recognizable brands
  • Your reputation in the market, including the market’s perception that you are a market leader or an expert in your field.
  • The strength of your relationship with key customers, a strong relationship represents goodwill and is often seen as a strength.
  • The strength of your relationship with your suppliers, once again, a strong relationship can be seen as a strength
  • The nature of the relationship you have with your employees.
  • Any unique alliances you may have with other companies that complement your company’s products or services in a way that is valued by your customers.
  • Ownership of patents or proprietary technology can be a strength
  • A proven advertising process that works well
  • Have more industry experience in a field that requires some technical expertise, including the skill of your managers, your collective industry experience, and your profile in industry associations.

Where do people often go wrong?

The first area where it is common to see strengths misreported is in the language used to describe them. It is an easy mistake to write macro-environmental observation as strengths rather than opportunities, however this tendency should be avoided. For example, “One of our strengths is a strong economy,” this is truly an opportunity and can be rephrased as: “Economic prospects support growth.”

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Your business leaders typically complete a SWOT analysis. In completing their analysis, they are likely to rank their leadership abilities alongside their other strengths. Of course, it’s unrealistic that every leader in every business can pass the test of being better than our competitors. When faced with this self-assessment, it’s best to look for indicators like higher engagement scores, lower churn, and higher customer satisfaction to validate where you place leadership in the SWOT of your business.

Summary of SWOT Strengths

Your SWOT analysis summarizes the three strategic environments in which your business operates, they are your macro environment, your industry environment, and your internal environment. You will only identify strengths during your internal environment analysis, this is because your internal analysis is the only area where you will identify the characteristics of your business that pass better than the test of your competition. Strengths can also fit into two categories: they can be tangible, like plants and equipment, or intangible, like patents.

You will now have a solid understanding of strengths and how to identify them in your business.

Business

Thinking of Selling Your House in the Near Future?: 5 Things to Do Now

While today’s real estate market is largely on hold at best, due to the restrictions, fears, and realities of the current pandemic, if one is seriously considering selling their home, at some point In the not so distant future, there are ways to effectively use this period (when most of us are cooped up at home), to prepare, in advance, and without spending, large sums of money! With that in mind, this article will try to briefly consider, examine, review and discuss 5 things we could do to use this period effectively, to plan and prepare to achieve our goal. future goals.

1. Curb Appeal: A somewhat easy thing to tackle, that is not expensive, is to enhance and improve the curb appeal of the house. What does that mean? When someone comes and walks up to your property for the first time, does it create a positive, neutral, or negative impression? If it wasn’t your house and you were a buyer, what would you objectively see? One factor is the appearance of the front door and the surrounding area. Is the door attractive and welcoming? Would doing so, a brighter, happier color, enhance the overall impact and impression? How about the screen door? Check out the walkway, front yard, driveway, etc.! How about the condition of the lawn (especially the front lawn), cleanliness, shrubbery, trees, exterior of the house, etc.?

two. Gardens: Are your grounds attractive, clean and well-maintained, or are they a negative distraction, giving the impression that the owner (you) is not paying special care and attention? Planting, sowing, pruning trees, etc., during this period! Not only will it keep you from going crazy now, but it will improve the perceived value and curb appeal of your property, when the time is right, in the future.

3. Clean thoroughly: It’s a good time to do Spring cleaning, on steroids! Clean, look at strengths and weaknesses, carefully, and use those strengths, while minimizing areas of weakness!

Four. From – Disorder: Most homes fill up with stuff over time because a fact of life is that we tend to accumulate far more items than we probably need. Discard the things you won’t be using and move them, to storage, etc., those things that clutter up the house and make it impossible for potential and qualified buyers to see it, to its full potential. ! While you are doing this, consider, if your home is my benefit, using a professional home-stager.

5. Retouching and troubleshooting: After you’ve cleaned up and reduced clutter, you’ll see areas that could benefit from touching up (paint, flooring, etc.) and other things that might detract from the home’s perceived value or beauty. !

Use today’s downtime to create a brighter future! These things are often cheap to do, but have a huge positive impact!

Business

Problems of Fiscal Audits in the Construction Sector

R. One of the most common problems in construction project audits is the time of sale by investors avoiding tax obligations and only paying personal income tax in the amount of 10% of their income from the sale. Meanwhile, considering this a common abuse point, the tax administration issued a circular to all local tax offices to register them as active taxpayers. Below is the document from 2003, not yet valid but the problem and the solution is the same.

1. Taxpayers in the “Investors” category in construction will be registered as VAT and Profit Tax taxpayers. In fact, this category of taxpayers will be subject to income tax since the sale of residential buildings is exempt from VAT. It is up to investors to choose their status, that is, whether they create a company and register with the business registry or register with the courts as a private business individual. Regardless of their form of registration, in tax terms they will be VAT taxpayers (from which they are exempt) and income tax.

In the event that an investor or a group of investors, identified and recognized by the Tax Agency, wishes to register, the taxpayer or group of taxpayers must grant the taxpayer an authorization in accordance with article 12 “Tax Representative” of the Law “On Procedures prosecutors in the Republic of Albania”. To avoid delays and abuses, in all cases, the investor or group of investors (contracted parties) will be obliged to register for tax purposes in the same Local Tax Office as the company that declares them as investors, and all their exercise. with this office.

2. During tax periods, the amount of income tax payable by investors must be carefully monitored. To do this, they must take into account the available area of ​​the contracts and the profit obtained from the sale of apartments, that is, the difference between the cost and the sale price. Minimum fiscal limits have already been established for these two elements, that is, average cost and average sale price.

B. Another problem that appears in audits of residential construction activities is the timing of the provision of technical services by non-resident specialists. Several contractors have received responses regarding this specific case. Below we present the answer to a similar case, in which the foreign specialist is resident in Italy.

If the “Double Taxation Agreement” is in force in your countries of residence, the provisions of this agreement will apply in cases of provision of technical services performed by contractors or non-resident companies. The first condition to be met within the framework of this agreement is that the company that provides the technical service, etc. must be resident in the country with which the agreement has been formalized. In such a case, the provisions of the agreement explain the tax rights of each country. Therefore, business income is taxed in the country of residence, except when the company conducts business in the other country through a permanent office, and only income attributed to this office/branch can be taxed in Albania.

For the specific case and in view of the current agreement with Italy, we explain below:

To avoid taxation of Italian companies that provide project services for the benefit of your company (resident in Albania), you must provide evidence and documents to confirm that the companies that provide you with such services are resident in Italy (for example, certificates issued by the Italian tax authorities). You must provide proof that the service is performed entirely in Italy, that is, that the Italian companies have not had a permanent office/branch in Albania as specified in the Agreement and the Law “On Income Tax” and, in Consequently, they have not been required to pay taxes in Albania on income attributed to this office.

Based on national legislation and the Agreement, for tax purposes, the Albanian tax administration is entitled to make corrections to these payments when they are made between related persons and when they have been artificially increased to avoid tax on their part. This means that, in the case of transactions between related parties, the tax administration has the right not to fully or partially recognize as deductible costs the payments that your company has made for the benefit of Italian companies.

Another frequent problem is the treatment of some cases in terms of obligations in the construction phase and tax on profits in the construction of residential buildings and commercial premises in them for personal reasons by investors or owners at the time of the sale.

1. At the time of construction, the owner or investor must meet the following criteria:
– If the owner or investor has entered into a contract with a contractor for the construction of a residential building for personal purposes, the construction company in the role of only the contractor carries out the work to completion. In accordance with the instruction of the General Directorate of Taxes, a minimum VAT is applied to all housing construction projects per 1m2 of construction surface at the value of the respective period in the final inventory. This minimum VAT must be paid by the holder of the construction permit and subsequent use. This VAT on construction is in accordance with the tables by area, available at the Tax Agency

– In the event that taxpayers have failed to comply with the VAT and income tax parameters for a certain moment of construction, the Tax Administrations must require the respective company to pay the difference between the minimum applicable VAT/m2 and the VAT declared up to that moment, as well as the respective profit. tax, in accordance with the instructions issued by the General Tax Directorate. If the owner declares that the final part of the work is carried out by him or a third party, while the construction company has not declared any work executed, the owners must pay the Treasury as withholding the difference between the minimum applicable VAT/m2 and VAT declared so far. If another contractor takes over the work, that contractor must pay the difference of VAT and income tax for the current construction period, according to the parameters of the construction zones.

The following procedures apply with respect to tax at the time of sale:

2. At the time of the sale of the property by the investor or owner, it is required that:
– In the event that investors are registered with the Tax Agency as such, it is their legal right to request the corresponding payment for income tax on the sale of the residential building or commercial premises in it. However, the obligation of investors to register residential buildings and commercial premises in them arises only when they carry out the economic activity of selling residential buildings.
– In the event that investors have a contract with contractors for the construction of their personal residential buildings, the contractor company in its exclusive capacity as contractors must pay the respective obligations of VAT and income tax in the construction stage.
– If the construction and use permit is in the name of owners who are also investors, they are responsible for the obligations that arise (income tax) after the construction project is finished and ready to be registered with the Office of Real Estate Registry.

Below we present some cases related to the position of investors or owners at the time of registering a residential building in the Real Estate Registry.

Case 1: When the investors (or group of investors) or landowners are not selling any m² of the building or commercial space in it:
– In relation to the tax on profits on the sale, the Treasury will require investors and owners to present a certified document that proves that the residential building is not for sale, but that it will be used for personal purposes.
– For the purposes of registering the property in the Real Estate Registry, the Tax Agency will issue a certificate, which obliges the latter to block any transfer of this property to third parties.

Case 2: When investors (or group of investors) or owners sell part of the surface area of ​​the building or commercial space in it and are not registered:

Based on the “Income Tax” Law, in all cases, the real income generated by the alienation of surface will be taken into consideration for the calculation of the income tax of investors or owners, building and/or alienating areas for housing, commerce, production, service of gold. Sold surfaces imply surfaces declared in sales contracts with clients (surfaces ceded as compensation to the owners or common surfaces, when the latter are not specified in the contract).

The taxable profit for sales of partial surfaces will be the difference between the income from sales and the costs incurred for partial sales. In such a case, the seller must register as an investor or group of investors with the tax office. The profit on the part sold will be at least equal to the area sold multiplied by the difference between the minimum price of the respective area and the minimum cost provided for in the Contract. In such a case, people who try to register their buildings as residential buildings are not required to register with the tax authorities, since they do not carry out any economic activity.

If the residential buildings were built for sale and consequently for profit, individuals will be required to pay the respective tax obligations for their activity for the buildings built during these years and pending registration at the Real Estate Registry Office in the year 2005.

Case 3: When people or groups of people claim financing for part of the residential building and the commercial premises in it are registered as a legal entity with the tax authorities:

With regard to income tax, the procedures will comply with the instructions issued by the General Directorate of Taxes for local tax offices, which refer to income tax at the time of the sale of the residential building and commercial premises in it. In such cases, the Real Estate Registry Office can register the corresponding part in the name of the legal person. The Real Estate Registry Office will calculate the “property transfer tax” for each m2 transferred by the company (investor or group of investors that make up the company). In each of the above cases, when the Real Estate Registry Office is notified that any of the investors, some of them or all of them want to transfer all or part of the property they own, the Treasury will calculate all the missing tax liabilities in the income tax, along with penalties, and authorizing the transfer of this property only after all tax liabilities have been settled.

Business

Using an answering service through voice mail

Nowadays, the method of answering the phone has become diverse, albeit complicated. The benefit of using a live telephone answering service versus voicemail, IVR (Interactive Voice Response), is something that businesses contemplate and weigh very carefully every day. A lot of people are still split down the middle when it comes to pros and cons. Therefore, they remain to be examined more closely.

Voice mail has become an option for many offices. it is cheap. Easily available and flexible. While many businesses have taken the easy path of automated response, there are still others that value customer service over automation and still stick with the old live operator response. The answering service industry has seen a steady decline in market share as many businesses have turned to voice mail. But due to unfavorable responses from the use of voice mail technology, the auto answering service industry is recovering its footing.

It would seem that the only victim of the autoresponder process is the answering service call center industry. The companies themselves also suffer when they see that customer calls actually favor talking to a live person on the other end. Customers would rather take out their frustrations on real human beings, as answering machines wouldn’t care much. No matter how much voicemail companies try to personalize or ‘humanize’ their services, nothing comes close to a human being who can respond appropriately, empathize at times, and just be human for whatever it takes.

voice mail not working

Callers who get to voicemail rarely leave messages these days. Let’s say seven out of ten is a seventy percent churn rate. Very few companies can afford to survive by losing seventy percent of their business. There really isn’t much of a chance to turn phone calls into business opportunities when you don’t get that many calls.

Save a few but lose a lot

It may seem like you’re saving hundreds of dollars on technology, but you’re actually losing thousands in lost business opportunities. An automated answering service operator will capture the messages and retransmit them in real time. This is where voicemail fails. More messages mean more business. This should be reason enough why voicemail just doesn’t work.

Immeasurable benefits for your business

The benefits of answering service are plentiful. Although there are too many to list, the following are some of the main benefits:

Save money: With a more focused answering service, you can save time and investment and eliminate costs associated with providing a physical workplace for agents, hiring and keeping additional employees, including vacation planning, hiring and training, benefits and overtime pay.

Create an aura of professionalism – Customers will often criticize your company from the very first phone call. Using an outsourced inbound call center that specializes in answering and taking orders introduces a whole new call interface where all calls are greeted with a smile and treated with respect.

Never miss an important call – our answering service staff handles calls 24/7. Every time your client places an order, makes a reservation, or reserves any of your rooms for any event, there will always be someone there to take that call. What’s even better is that your customer requests, complaints, questions and more are handled in real time by your call specialist who is more than qualified, up-to-date and competent.

Absolute customer satisfaction. This is the eventuality, the inevitable, and the end result of combining all the benefits listed above.

Still, the first step to making these advantages work for your business is not to choose the first answering service call center that comes along, but to do your careful research before choosing who you think can give you the best service your business deserves. There are a wide variety of options to choose from, let’s be clear about that.

But in the end, the choice is still yours. Using an answering service benefits both small and large businesses. If you’re looking to help your customer retention and strengthen your customer service, contact a service provider today.

Business

Your company culture: does it include emergency preparedness?

It’s May, officially “Small Business Month” 2014. The month starts off with good news: ADP reported that small businesses added 82,000 jobs in April. And NFIP, the National Federation of Independent Business, reports that its Optimism Index reached 95, a level not seen since October 2007.

Good news offset by sad realities

This good news is tempered by continued reports of natural disasters impacting business owners across the country: wildfires in Southern California, severe storms in the central states, and hurricane season on the East Coast just around the corner from the corner. And as I write this, I know that it is the one year anniversary of the tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma in 2013.

There is no way that a company can survive some of these disasters.

But all businesses can take steps to survive emergencies and prevent them from becoming disasters. The NFIB points the way: “Emergency preparedness must be embedded in the culture of the organization.”

Build a culture of readiness

Having a plan and having practiced it goes a long way in building that necessary “culture.” (In fact, NOT having a plan pretty much negates any possibility of having one.) There are many great resources available online to help you develop your plan, from FEMA, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Red Cross. Even NFIB has a good starter article.

The best plans also have scheduled practices. Everyone should understand the basics of emergency or safety equipment. In many cases, when the emergency occurs, some employees may be missing. Others will have to step up to do jobs that are not normally theirs. There will be no time to train once the disaster strikes.

Customize your Business Continuity Plan

However, most generic plans don’t really get into the details that make the plan effective for your particular business!

To help fill these gaps, we’re putting together a series of short videos. Each addresses a potential “missing piece” of a typical small business continuity plan.

You can already see the first three videos. They cover different aspects of emergency communications in the business environment. In less than 16 minutes, you can get some common-sense recommendations that will apply if services are temporarily disrupted, buildings are damaged, or your entire workplace becomes unusable.

Interestingly, a report came out last week from Tinker Federal Credit Union, whose branch in Moore was struck by the Oklahoma tornado. One of his recommendations: “Improve site communications during a disaster.”

Business

Beyond ERP with Expenzing

ERP (enterprise resource planning) it has been the cornerstone of various small, medium and large companies for many years. ERP acts as the aggregate ledger platform of choice for businesses, but some may agree that its flexibility is questionable.

Top 3 challenges with ERP:

  • High-value purchases and expenses related to IT, marketing, HR services, legal fees, utilities, and regular expenses like annual maintenance contracts are done outside of the ERP system. There is limited or no control over spending at the branch or department level. The Delegation of Authorization and Corporate Policies are questioned, exposing the company to risk.
  • ERPs are not feasibly built for every employee in the organization to log in to request, approve, or obtain information. They are designed to record post-facto transactions and process them for P&L. The cost for just each licensed user would be too high.
  • Purchases made outside of the ERP account for a significant percentage of SG&A and the time spent managing purchases and payments is enormous due to the number of transactions. Manual data entries are required to integrate with the ERP. These expenses are managed with their own system, spreadsheets, email or, even worse, paper receipts. The accounting and finance operation remains tactical at best.

Expenzing takes you further than conventional ERP

Expenzing is an expert in Expense Management including: Expense Management, Travel Expense Management and Buy to Pay software which adds immense supremacy to existing ERP system. We help you beyond the limitations of your ERP, with an automated system that brings your stakeholders together on a single platform.

  • Purchase Orders (POs) can be completed in minutes, from deciding which supplier, to generating the purchase order online and submitting it to the supplier.
  • Expense invoice management software offers tight control of the invoice due diligence process. Our best-in-class automated due diligence with Invoice Scrutinizer ensures you’ll never lose money to incorrect payments.
  • Expense management software allows approvers to receive email approvals knowing that process checklists have been verified before invoices arrive on their desk.
  • Get MIS reports, analysis of spending areas to improve or negotiate with suppliers.

No matter what industry you’re in – insurance, finance, projects, media, engineering, healthcare, manufacturing – our financial control and expense management solutions help businesses save a lot of time and cost by better managing their procurement, employee travel and expenses, and complements your existing ERP. To summarize, ERP is the core of the business for many years, but it requires the right augmentation, Expenzing provides just that, adding great value to your business.