Author: Major William

What Business to Start with $ 50,000? 3 Options to Choose From

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Wish to know how to augment your income with $50,000 in hand?

There are quite a few ways to go about. Starting a promising business is not bad, provided you have an aptitude for it. If you are averse to collecting monthly interest and instead would want to see your money grow by leaps and bounds, you can go for either of these following options.

  • Stock market can be a good option if you are willing to take risks. All you need is a bit of financial acumen. The safest way out is to create a portfolio. Invest certain amount in slow moving bonds, a part of it into futures and commodities, and remaining into the unpredictable market. If you can somewhat anticipate when the stocks would tumble, you can swim against the odds comfortably.
  • Internet business is another good option. If you are net savvy, you can come across multitude of businesses possibilities. You start and propagate your business on the net and get prospective clients on the net.
    No investment costs whatsoever and no running around or aggressive field marketing. Given the low cost of maintenance, wide reach and high returns, a stable internet based business can arguably be the easiest way out. Which business to start with, is something, which you can learn from the net. Search engine optimization, online marketing strategies like maintaining customer relationships, content churning are some good options. Surf the net for many more such ideas.
  • Real estate can also be a wonderful option. Buy a property in an upcoming area within your range and sell it off as demand rises. You can make a lump sum effortlessly. Finding the right property in the right area matters the most. Again, you need to bring your discretion into play. However, to take home the returns, you need to bide your time. The wait, however, is worth it.

If nothing but a shop interests you the most, go for a franchise business. Having an outlet of McDonald’s, KFC or Dunkin Donuts can be a good way to launch yourself, in a hassle free business. With a franchisee business you don’t have to start from scratch. Moreover you are protected from failures as you, at all times, will be propped up by the parent company.

Though these are some the businesses that you may consider choosing, there are many available options. What you decide to take up should be based on your liking, aptitude, knowledge and physical ability. The final is yours!

How To Tell Your Clients About Increased Rates Without Losing Him?

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Telling your clients about a price hike is never music to their ears. An announcement to this effect is always met with resentment. After all shelling out more pinches everyone. In today’s world of cut throat competition, conveying a price rise can upset a client to the extent of severing ties. After all there are many who are willing to offer the same services at a lesser price. Does this mean you shouldn’t increase your rates? The answer is an emphatic no. Increasing rates, in today’s world, calls for a lot of tact. It should not look or sound highhanded and one-sided. It should take into account other extraneous factors. And most importantly, a price hike should be conveyed in a way that would not jolt customers out of their senses.

A price hike should not come out of the blue. If so, a customer will react sharply to the news and begin to entertain thoughts of discontinuing. There can be no substitute to preparing a client for the impending rise. Do so while signing the contract, or if the rise is necessitated by a sudden development, present the bigger picture before the client. Make sure the client can relate to what you have to say. When a client isn’t blind sided by the information, he is more empathetic towards a sudden price hike. It is also important to make sure that the increase doesn’t take costs beyond your clients reach.

Increase in fees must take into account extraneous factors like the clients economic condition. Business is all about building relationship and rapport. Having a good understanding and sustaining it is far more important than earning a few extra bucks. Taking a clients sensitivity into account can benefit you in more ways than one.

If a hike is on the cards, make sure you put the client on prior notice. Giving your client adequate time to adjust with the rise, helps him tailor his accounts accordingly and also provides him some breathing space. He gets to understand that you are not insensitive to his plight and thereby end up sending your right intent across. In the process you also provide your client with the option to seek alternatives and thereby part on a good note. This in turn leaves the door ajar for a future comeback. On the contrary if the price hike leads to a bitter parting, you won’t get a chance ever again to work with your client.

Increasing business price calls for a lot of tact. Your approach needs to be well calculated and properly measured.

Why Do Business People Use MS Excel? Reasons it Dominates Other Apps

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Excel is an integral part of Microsoft office suite. Its powerful functions has become an integral part of every business operations. So much so it has also become an integral to ones way of life. .

Why is it that that people are heavily dependent on this application? What is it that makes it so indispensable?

The Answer is…

  • Excel comprises individual worksheets for creating lists and spreadsheets.
  • It comes with such varied functions that creating lists, maintaining data or records or even scheduling becomes extremely easy.
  • Imaging converting any data into a pie chart or a bar graph representation with just a click of the mouse.

To Give you an Example…

  • Let’s consider a weekly conference room resource schedule as an example. It is very easy and handy to create a resource schedules with Excel. You can color code it and set it up to update itself automatically with every change of schedules. You can have the headings of each column named by the day and the rows based on time span. The first column may have Monday as the column heading and time slot, say 10 am– 11am as the row name. Thus you allocate different timings for different departments and pass on the sheet to the respective department to ensure every department is aware of their respective schedules. Can there be a better way to avoid confusion?
  • Lets consider the use of excel sheet in basic account. There can’t be a better application for checkbook ledger. After entering debit and credit figures you easily convert the entries into a pie chart to get a complete overview of how it went for you in a particular week or month. If you want to compare the expenditure figures of a few months, convert it into a bar graph, with each bar representing each month. And all this can be instantaneous. Likewise you can track product changes with excel on a monthly or quarterly basis. With a correct idea of the upward and downward trends, you get to know in which direction your business is heading. A detailed chart can also help you see your return of investment whenever you want.

When it comes to list making nothing can beat excel sheet. This feature can be put to a variety of use. For instance, if you wish to create a database of your customers, excel sheet is your best bet. You can endlessly add names and other information. When it comes to finding someone out, you wouldn’t face the proverbial needle in a haystack situation. Do a Ctrl + F search and pull the name out in a flash. You can go on adding fields without affecting the layout in possible way.

Given the many ways in which it can be put to good use, its doubtful whether excel sheet will ever outlive its utility.

What All You Need To Open And Setup Your Bicycle Repair Business?

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Bicycles are making a huge comeback. In countries like Norway, it has once again become the main means of transport. Given the rising costs of gas and impending scarcity, most countries have realized that falling back on this mode of transport can be hugely beneficial both to the economy and the environment. With bicycle all set to take over from other means of transport it is time you contemplate starting a bicycle repair business of your own.

Like the simplicity of a bicycle, a bicycle repair shop requires simple tools and a small working space. Investing in all of these would cost you almost nothing. Learning how to repair a cycle is no rocket science. All that it requires is a passion for biking and keen interest in watching and learning.

But, How to get in To This Business?

  • However, to get started, it is advisable to gather some good knowledge about the subject.
  • Joining a tech training school can be very helpful. If there isn’t such school nearby, you can always get to teach yourself. A technical manual can be your best teacher. It serves as a quick reference – something on which you can fall back upon every now and then.
  • Reading about bike repair in the web can also be very helpful. After picking up the basics, you can get down to the technical aspect. This can give you some hands on experience in bike training.
  • Start with your own bike. Dismember it to the bearings. Then put it back together. Once done, take a ride to see if it’s okay. If it is, you have cleared out the first round. It is only after many such rounds of rejoining, that you can master the concept behind a bicycle.

What all You need?

  • Before you get down to this, keeping some basic tools ready can prove handy.
  • Some of the tools include…
    • Good tire pump
    • Tire spoons
    • Wrenches
    • Pressure gauge
    • Chain breaker tool
    • Spoke wrench
    • Screw drivers
    • Allen keys
    • Wire cutters
    • Adjustable pliers, etc.

But remember, as you get on to the job you would need a lot more.

Now, How to Attract Customers?

  • Once you learn the trick, its good if you repair a few cycles for no cost or may be at a far lesser cost. This can benefit you in two ways. Firstly, it provides you with the chance to hone your skills with less accountability.
  • Secondly, there can’t be a better way to market your new business. Once you become more proficient, and win the trust of your customers it’s your call all the way.

As far as finance is required, I think this business does not require hefty investment, you can do savings from your job for about 10-12 months and start this business.

How To Find A Company’s Address From a Phone Number? 3 Easy Ways

Posted by Major William on in United States 1 Comment

You don’t have the company’s address but only the phone number? Are keen to find their address without ringing them up?

Don’t worry, it’s possible. In today’s world of internet communications, it takes nothing to find more about something or someone. A phone number is enough to track down a company and learn a lot more about it.

What Other Info Do you Get with Just Phone Number?

  • You can learn about the company’s history
  • Its past and present CEO
  • Areas in which it specializes, related questions and even white paper and case studies on the company’s field of activity.
  • Other peripheral information which you can ferret out from the net includes directions to the place, means that can take you there, nearest landmark, nearby stores as well as its competitors.

3 Ways To Find Address of a Company With Phone Number

  1. Start your Google search with whitepages.com. This site is designed to provide you the required information. Once you land in the home page of this site, select the “Reverse Lookup” tab. Type in the company’s phone number into the blank field of the Reverse Lookup textbox. Click the “Find” button and the search results for the particular company will flash before your eyes. One good thing about this search is that it doesn’t depend on the phone number format.
  2. The yellow pages is another good site to carry out your search in. Visit www.yellowpages.com. In the navigation you will find the tab “Find a Business”. Select it and then click on the “Phone Number” link. Type the phone number of the company you are looking for and click on “Find’. The name and address of the company will be displayed. Make sure you type the area code of the place. If not, it may fail to locate the company. This site also provides you with the option to click to find a direction map to the company.
  3. Another good place to look for the company address is in Better Business Bureau’s website. A good company will have its name enlisted with the bureau. Go to www.bbb.org/us. Click on the tab named “Check out a Business or Charity” button. Next select the “Phone, URL, Email” tab and type the organizations phone number in the field box. Click on the “Search” button to initiate the search. The address will be displayed if it’s in the database. If not, it will throw up the info “No results found”.

Finding out addresses with phone number has never been as easy as it is now. Only that, you have to have the number correct.

Starting a Wedding Gown Business? Keep These Few Things in Mind!

Posted by Major William on in Business in India 0 Comment

If you have an aptitude for dress design layouts, then wedding dress business, is where your calling lies. Getting connected with designers and sharing your concepts is one good way to make a beginning in this field.

You might argue that starting a business in this field might be enough to get onto this business? But starting a business is just not what it is all about. If you wish to thrive in this field, you need to cash in on your aptitude and know the ins and outs of the market. When you get associated with other designers and cloth suppliers, you get into the core of the business. This helps you get a complete understanding of how the industry works. Soon your business grows deep market roots. When you know your business like the back of your palm, you can carry out dealings with a lot more confidence.

Flow with the Trend…

Apart from good dress design concepts it is important to have an idea of what is in vogue. Blending these two, you can successfully start your business. Keeping pace with the fickle bridal fashion trends may throw a big challenge. You can take the challenge by the horns only by being on your toes. Like any other business good public relationships also matters a lot. You need to cultivate cordial relationship both with the bridal gown retailers to ensure your products always have a place on the rack.

Before Starting….

Before you set up a business, carry out market research about the business as a whole. Visit retailers and manufacturers and try to take a measure of how they are going about. Acquaint yourself with American and European designs. Get in touch with design specialists and develop a good understanding of the difference in quality of the dress materials. Try to find out how one retailer distinguishes himself from the other and what does he do to make his products unique. Give your concepts a try, after discussing them with designers. It would do you a world of good if you gain some experience by working under an ace designer.

Location of the Store…

Having your shop in a good location matters a lot for your wedding gown business. Make sure it is located in a down town area between other retail shops. Go for some cost effective advertising like distributing pamphlets outside churches or big social gatherings. Online marketing is a good advertising medium. If you cannot afford to have a shop in a prime location you have the option of starting an online store. You can display all your collections in an attractive way and showcase your creative skills very effectively. If your creations have the potential to stun people, there is no reason why your online bridal business shouldn’t thrive.

Why Do Companies Expand Internationally? 4 Main Reasons for Expansion

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All developing countries have opened up their economy to the world. This is like extending an invite to foreign companies to set up base in the country. While on the one hand this helps countries tap their resources in the best possible way, on the other, it enables companies diversify their operations and multiply profit. Growth within confined territories is always restricted. It limits the capabilities of companies with high potential. But when carried across the border it can prove mutually beneficial in more ways than one.

Organizations that have their presence in multiple countries are termed as Multinational Companies (MNC). These organizations are incorporated in one country but carry out their production and sales operations in various countries. In today’s climate of global economy, foreign sales surpass domestic sales and have helped countries rake in profits many times over. In a level playing field, the scope for companies is limitless. Likewise, consumers can look forward to buy world class products or avail services that otherwise would not have been available to them. Thus by expanding companies help to fill in the product gap in other countries. Let’s take the example of brands like Mcdonalds and KFC. Both these brands are trusted for their exotic food products.

Today, while these brands have expanded themselves around the world, people identify their names with quality chicken fries and sandwiches. Expansion has helped them become household names and rake in huge profits. What if these companies were restricted to their countries? People around the world would have been deprived of good food and the growth of these companies would have been stunted.

4 Main Reasons…

Expanding business across borders help companies in more ways than one. Some other ways include:

  • Procure Raw Materials: Pushing business frontiers to countries producing the necessary raw materials can make it easy for companies to sustain their business in the long run. For instance retail giant Wal-Mart can gain immensely if it gets easy access to buy products directly from local markets in agricultural countries.
  • Save Costs: Developing countries are essentially low cost countries. Shifting to these countries can help companies save on money without compromising on production efficiency. Moreover, hugely populated countries like China and India offer skilled and cost effective human resources.
  • Cash In On Technologies: – When a company sets up base in a developed country, it has easy access to scientific and design ideas. This helps to accelerate research to improve on the quality of existing products as well as design and develop technologically advanced products.
  • Escape Regulations: Every country has its own set of rules and regulations which often prove to be big hurdles. Having base in another country can help companies escape measures that are regressive to growth.

Given the advantages of business expansion companies big and small are raring to reach out far and wide. In the coming years business expansion will grow by leaps and bounds.

 

3 Low Budget Yet Effective Ways To Market Your Business

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Marketing is crucial to every business. In today’s world of cut throat competition the importance of marketing is increasing by leaps and bounds. However, marketing needs a well defined strategy. Mere marketing for the sake of marketing can hardly translate into sales. The best approach is to keep your marketing strategy simple. Simple marketing can be effective and less expensive. By keeping it simple you get a proper idea of whether or not you are heading in the right direction.

Having customers in local areas is of great importance to any business. It helps you build trust from the block level, and at the same time ensures you have steady source of loyal buyers. To start with, you need to focus on networking. Hooking up with schools, government agencies, major employers, churches and social organizations can help you get a firm footing in the market. Go the whole hog to ensure that your association is beneficial to every local level establishment. To stay ahead in the competition, back up your marketing strategy with quality, accountability, discipline, etc.

Given below are few simple ways to create awareness about your business

Hand shake and business card: There is no substitute to meeting people in person and talking to them about your business. Talk about how they would stand to gain from your business than about what you have to offer. Leave a card behind to remind them about your business in your absence. Meet as many people as you can. Even if a fraction of people turn into customers, by the end of the year you will have a substantial number of loyal buyers. Handbills do help, but they only elicit a casual or passing interest and can in no way replace personal meetings. However, handbills issued every now and then, can be a good way to reinforce your publicity stints.

Support Fundraisers: Fund raising programs can provide you an ideal platform to promote your business. You not only associate yourself with a cause, but subtly carry your advertisement out. For instance, you can get some signboards set up on behalf of the local body area, requesting people not to litter the area, with the name of your agency below. If you are into T-shirt business, and promoting the cause of the pernicious effects of smoking, you can print a few hundred of such shirts and distribute it to college students, in a sport meet, or any other college function. Initiating a cause, like collecting books for the under privileged, with you playing the lead role can also be a good attention catching move.

Special Offers: Special discount sales have their place of importance in public mind. Two in one offers or lucky draw lottery can arrest the interest of customers and draw them like a moth towards a candle.

The above mentioned strategies are easy to initiate, can be quickly planned, are result yielding and cost little. Instead of pouring dollars into media advertisements, you can drive sales using your own product as the incentive and have complete control over developments. .

How To Get People To Know About Your Business: Ways You Must Try!

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Getting people to know about your business is arguably the most crucial part of your business. The market is teeming with businesses like yours. So, reaching out to people and informing them about your identity matters the most. But just reaching out to create awareness is not enough. Given the stiff competition around, you can’t afford to slacken up your efforts. You have to reach out to people at all hours, and with ideas that are both inspiring and innovative.

How can you make people differentiate your business from the rest?

The answer is branding. Branding lends a distinct identity to your business. People tend to identify brands with solution and good feelings. With a brand, your business gets a face and personality that facilitates interaction with consumers. If marketing is all about telling stories, your brand will ensure that your story spreads fast, and it spreads far and wide.

The next important aspect of creating awareness is the way you communicate. Communication again has two crucial ways to it. When you say something, make sure you mean what you say. Secondly, ensure that your message is warm and couched with care. Sell, but don’t sell aggressively. If you are communicating just to sell, make sure you sell subtly. An emotive aspect to selling can go a long way to build trust.

Choosing the right platform to sell your business plays also plays a very important role in spreading awareness. In today’s world, when it comes to choosing a marketing platform, you are spoilt for choice. The best option for you is to choose a platform that spreads your message fast and comes at an affordable price. Social media is one such platform that offers both these advantages. When you start off from this platform, you get to interact with consumers, which in turn provide you a chance to build a community – one which keeps growing with time. When you have a big band of trusted followers your message spreads like jungle fire.

What about direct marketing? Can you do away with it? Direct marketing has been the standard way of popularizing a business since ages. Even in today’s world of online marketing, field marketing has a very important role to play. However, your approach should be off the tangent. The days of aggressive marketing are a thing of the past. Today field marketing entails creating awareness through community programs. For instance, if you are into trendy T-shirt business, your off field marketing strategy should involve serving the community with T-shirts carrying your brand. You distribute T- shirts printed with your logo to municipal workers in charge of street maintenance. It should carry a catchy message on it, to draw people’s attention. You need to change your strategy from time to time, so that people get to know about your business on and off.

Getting people to know your business calls for some out of the box strategies. It takes time to create awareness, but once your brand gets well known, you just have to have to sit back and reap the benefits.

How To Become Disability Advocate And Start Disability Advocacy Business

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If you looking for a career that is both rewarding and satisfying, then it’s time you opt for disability advocacy as a career. This job involves assisting disabled people in getting their benefits as guaranteed by the state. Though there is a system in place for the disabled, more often than not, most disabled end up being denied their benefits. This is because, not everyone filing for benefits know how to go about.

Hiring an attorney can assure of procuring benefits, but it involves huge expenses. Doing it themselves is an available alternative for many, but not many are aware of the law and how the system works. This is where you can step in as representative of the disabled person and with your knowledge of the disability program, help the disabled get benefits he is entitled to.

How To Become A Disability Advocate?

To become a disability advocate, you need to go through intensive training program in order to familiarize yourself with the disability law. There are several organizations that provide certified training along with ongoing support. Once you get certified, you can start take up the profession as a small business and thereafter specialize in this field with time. Chances of growing in this business is very high, because of peoples reluctance to shell out huge attorney fees which, in any case, may or may not bring them the benefits.

Different study programs pertaining to disability advocacy are available in the market. The basic program provides helps you learn everything about the subject. This program is affordable and is good enough to help you start your business from home. Advanced certificate programs help established DAs improve their efficiency..

To become a DA, you need to meet certain requirements. All of this is outlined in details in the Social Security Administration’s publication Your Right to Representation. It is always advisable to specialize in a niche field of disability. So, opting for a specialty in social security benefits can be extremely helpful. One such field of specialty is when an employee is not in a position to discharge his duties due to either a physical or mental disability.

Another way to become a disability advocate is to join an organization that supports the disabled. All it takes is ring up the organization or sign up on their website. This is a good way to start off a career in this field because disability advocates often have to work as volunteers to raise awareness in the society. Once you gain experience as a volunteer, your career can take a perfect take off.