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Take a Journey Through The Savings Initiatives Over Time

In today’s modern world, many of us have our finances organised with share ISA accounts and pension pots but have you ever thought about where these came from, or how each savings initiative has changed over the years?

Online investment company, True Potential Investor, has taken a step through time with this question in mind. Did you know… that the first known building society formed for groups of individuals who were looking to help each other to buy property? Or that the Bank of England was founded towards the end of the 17^th century to fund the war effort against France? How about that the Amsterdam Stock Exchange was believed to be the world’s first stock market?

Browse through the infographic below and discover even more fascinating facts…

How Funding can Help a Small Business

Small businesses with limited cash often find themselves facing something of a conundrum. They need bigger premises, more staff, more equipment or more stock in order to take on new contracts, which will bring in lots of new revenue. However, before they can take on these contracts and generate this revenue, they need cash upfront to make all of the required improvements. The answer to this problem is funding, which can help to plug the financial shortfall.

A small business loan can help you to:

Employ talent. In many start-ups, there is one person trying to do everything by themselves. But to really thrive, your business needs specialists. For example, a marketing expert to properly promote your brand, or a sales consultant to help you bring home those big clients. While a loan isn’t usually used to pay someone’s wages, it can free up cash from other areas of spending (i.e. stock or equipment) that you can use to attract the talent you need to drive the business forward.
Buy equipment. If a new piece of equipment can help you double your productivity or vastly streamline tasks, this means far more revenue. Using funding to purchase it is a great idea, as the boost in revenue and productivity means it will pay for itself in no time.
Buy stock and fulfil more orders. If the potential is there to take on many new orders and contracts, but you’ll need a cash injection in order to buy the stock to fulfil these orders – it makes sense to use funding.
Move premises. Is your existing premises bursting at the seams? Would moving to a larger office space allow you to bring in more staff and equipment, to increase productivity and revenue? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, you can use funding to be able to afford the lease or purchase of a more suitable property.

Using funding to invest in these crucial areas of your business should soon start to show benefits, helping you to grow and expand your operation. However, it’s very important to be realistic, practical and cautious about how much you borrow and how fast you expand. Gradual and carefully considered expansion is often the best method to adopt.

Types of funding

There are several routes you can go down to secure the funding you need for any of the aforementioned goals. You can use an ordinary small business loan or consider cash advance loans – or even go down the crowd-funding route.

Before you start searching for funding, it’s important to sit down and assess exactly how much you need and what you need it for. An investor or funder will need to see precisely how the money will be spent, how it will help the business and how the money will be repaid.

In short, you need a solid plan in place for business growth. It may be a good idea to seek professional financial advice, and to take your time considering your options before applying for funding.

How to Maintain Safe Money Transfer Between Small Business Owners and Customers

Money makes the business world spin. Cash flows are the bloodstream of companies both big and small, and nobody wants to see it become clogged. With the current economic climate, where most people are still tightening their belts, it is important to account for an each penny, and a ballpark number does not suffice.

Even customers who live high off the hog want a safe and fast money transfer system. It can be easily established online, as the digital world offers countless opportunities to improve operations, cut the costs and reach a broader customer base. But, keeping the integrity of the payment service is linked with many security challenges and risks.

Playing hard, killing them softly

It is crucial to have a clean machine with powerful hardware and appropriate software platforms. Make good use of the latest security software solutions and up-to-date operating system and web browser. Several strong layers of defense can repel any malware, virus, cyber attack or other threat. Passwords should be long and strong, and encryption methods considered. Pay attention to Wi-Fi hotspots as well and never use an unsecure wireless network to make payments.

Backing-up

Apart from being protected, your data should also be backed-up. Losing valuable information is something that could happen in cases of hosting failure, hardware problems, hacker attacks and other unpredictable hazards. To prevent this, you can use external hard drives and other equipment, or cloud computing software. One of the most popular ones is Dropbox, and millions of content customers speak in favor of this option you can use for free or as a paid service.

Doing the research

Sending money overseas for international payments is a convenience, but also a process that can be hard to control. To keep your foreign transactions secure, you can work with an online exchange provider. However, doing a thorough, independent research beforehand is highly advisable. There are a lot of malicious sites that may appear legitimate, and customers should also have this in mind. These schemers want to trick you into submitting personal or financial information, so stay vigilant.

Embracing transparency

When you do not meet and see people you are doing business with, there are some serious trust issues present. Transparency is just as important as reliability, and providers that offer options for both the sender and receiver to track the money are to be trusted. So, educate your staff to use the internet in a safe and secure way, and to provide the necessary information to clients. A clear return policy is something that makes them feel safe, and the same goes for handy online tools and educational resources.

Choosing a safe payment options

Credit cards are one of the safest options, as they have a limit on the amount of money that needs to be paid if something goes wrong. The most popular online payment solution is perhaps PayPal, although it’s not available in all countries. Another option is to use an escrow method which introduces a neutral third party that holds and disburses money. This makes sure there are no ill-gotten gains or random losses due to imperfections in the system or human error. For example, PromisePay is one of those payment solutions that provides the escrow method.

Safe and sound

Conducting business online has never been easier, and there is no shortage of efficient and safe ways to go about it. Online payments are not taboo anymore, but one should be on the safe side here to prevent money loss and other inconveniences. Keeping the privacy of sensitive information is of the utmost importance, and it is always better to be safe than sorry.

It is crucial to find a payment system as sound as a dollar, and as safe as houses. Manage the risk associated with such transactions, see if you can find a reliable middleman, and deploy strategies and measures to thwart cyber threats. This is the best way to obtain loyal customers and to see your business flourishing. We all want our money to be in safe hands, don’t we?

Spotting A Good Cleaning Company For The Business

Maintaining a clean and presentable office is essential in creating a good first impression to clients. After all, a clean establishment is said to reflect the quality of work and performance a company does. Moreover, it also showcases the amount of care a business has for its employees’ well-being and comfort.

Finding the Perfect Cleaning Company

Luckily, there is no shortage of cleaning companies available. From taking out the trash every day to carpet cleaning, there is a suitable service for each type of business out there. Before jumping into the bandwagon and hiring a cleaning company, there are a few factors to consider to ensure the partnership goes smoothly.

List down the cleaning services needed.

A company has to identify the type of cleaning service they need. This would depend on the usage of a particular area. For instance, if the lobby of an office experiences heavy foot traffic within the day, it might be ideal to have a cleaning service assigned to clean it at hourly intervals in order to keep everything spotless.

Consider the budget as well as the needs of the company.

Find out how much the company is willing to spend to hire a cleaning service. It is advisable to gather information from different establishments and compare what they have to offer. Note down the services they have and whether they carry appropriate equipment.

Take into consideration the special cleaning needs of the business, would they require a dehumidifier? Maybe they need a carpet cleaning machine to clean up their office floors? Questions like these should be addressed ahead of time to prevent confusion and to se
t expectations.

Qualified staff and products used.

Check staff have been trained and certified, especially by Interactive Training International and that they are using the latest chemicals and products, such as environmentally friendly products and microfiber cleaning technology for better results.

Conduct background research and inquire about previous clients.

Once a cleaning company has been chosen, find out about them by contacting their past clients. Conduct research on whether they provided excellent service to their previous customers. It is also advisable to check reviews to see if anything is said about them.

Finding out how they treat their clients should be a helpful factor in deciding whether to hire the said company or not.

Understand the contract and inquire about insurance coverage.

Always read the fine print and ensure that the cleaning company has a reliable insurance coverage. In case a steam cleaner damages a portion of the office carpet, for instance, it will be easier to know that reparations for such will not be a problem.

Work out a trial run if possible.

Ask if it is possible to have a trial period with the cleaning service before fully committing to hire them. This will give both parties a chance to adjust and also work out the details like cleaning time as well as target areas.

With these guidelines in mind, it’s easier to determine whether a cleaning company is the right one to go for. Hiring the right cleaners for a business requires a bit of diligent research before
finally making the decision to commit. Taking these precious steps ahead of time will help eliminate potential problems from cropping up in the future.

About the Author: Debra Wright is a creative and innovative blogger and online marketing specialist. She uses her wordsmith skills to share her ideas, thoughts, and tips to other people about
topics that fascinate her, such as tips on cleaning services. Follow Debra on twitter @debrawrites…

Issues That Small Businesses May Face in 2014

Small businesses in the year 2014 are expected to face a few more crucial issues that would play a critical role in running of companies. It won’t be wrong to say that in the coming year most of the small businesses are heading with plenty of uncertainty. Slow hiring and changing trends too are expected to affect the small businesses. Not to point out to the negative scenario, small businesses in the coming year may have to face implications and complications regarding the health care law as well.

Considering the current scenario, uncertainty is the bane of most of the small businesses. The only rational response will be dependent on pulling the horns and literally slowing down. Chances are that the small businesses may or may not get enough encouragement from the economy. Not everything is gloomy.

Let’s take a look at some of the issues that the small businesses are likely to face in the year 2014.

Taxes

Tax makers are still hanging this issue and we would interestingly call it fiscal cliff. Not to mention, budget cuts and the increase in taxes are also going to have a good impact on the pace of growth for the small businesses. Even if an interesting agreement is reached, small businesses may still struggle to thrive on the kind of certainty they have been expecting since long. We are sure to discuss on the issue every year and it is an issue that is going to take time to resolve. If the scenario doesn’t change for good then the negotiations and uncertainty are sure to raise other issues in the coming year.

Now the good news is that you can expect the deduction any time. For the time being, it can be said that business owners should not just focus on getting the big break of their corporate life. Tax rates are going to pose huge changes for the small companies that are looking to making bigger investments. All these are going to affect the retailers and the other small businesses in the process, particularly the ones that are involved in selling directly to public.

Shortage of skilled workers

Most of the small businesses are struggling from this issue, they know how tough it is to find the skilled workers in the market. They hardly have the desired talents willing to join them to fill in some of the crucial job positions in their companies. Most of the manufacturing companies are looking for high-tech skills and settling for anything less is not convincing to them.

Few job positions require exhaustive training but a basic skill set is required and unfortunately small businesses are made to compromise on that. Since the trends in working style and changes in technology are becoming evident, business owners are finding it really hard to find the qualified workers; issues are expected to continue in the year 2014.

Health care

Health care is definitely one of the other resources in line that are making things uncertain for the small business in the upcoming year. Health care laws in the coming time are going to affect us all and more importantly, the small businesses.

Most of the small businesses should consider devoting some time understanding and analysing all aspects of law relating to health care. If they are planning to expand overseas then understanding the same on the global level should have an impact on the running of the business too.

Lot of small business owners are still unsure on the fact whether they will have their states creating some forms of exchanges or whether they will be required to go a bit into the national system. On the other hand, they are still going to be unsure about how these changes are going to affect the costs.

Other issues that the small businesses in the year 2014 are going to face are concerns relating with onshoring and lending. It’s time for small business to gear up and pull up their socks because the market of 2014 is going to bring them plenty of challenges. If they can cover up for their losses and focus on the drawbacks, they are sure to reach the pinnacle of success in no time. However, sustaining the elevated position is going to be yet another challenge.

About the Author: This article is contributed by Samme who is associated with a leading UK based supplier of Office Cable Protectors – CableProtector.co.uk. Click here to visit the Office Cable Protectors landing page.