Finance | BizSieve.com

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?

6 Ways To Save Energy In The Office

In these environment-conscious times, ‘saving energy’ is one of the most-used catchphrases for reducing the demand for fossil fuel used to generate power. Not only will it help save the planet, but it will benefit your household budget as well. The same goes for your workplace, naturally, when you apply your home energy-saving habits to your place of work.

Here are a few suggestions.

Don’t Use More Light Than You Need.

You can use a desk lamp for your table instead of the overhead lights when alone in your work room, for instance. Position your desk near windows so you can use the day’s natural light while it lasts: not only will it save you energy, but it is much healthier and pleasant to your eyes than artificial lighting. Use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) as much as possible: they use about 70% less energy than incandescent lighting. Switch off unneeded lighting, particularly in less-used areas such as storerooms and conference rooms.

Turn Off Equipment When Not Using It.

Switch off equipment such as printers, copiers and scanners not being used. It takes only a second to switch them on for use. Turn off computer monitors if you will be away for more than a few minutes like when going on a coffee or lunch break. Switch off even the computer itself if it will not be used for over an hour. Even a few watts saved each time may accumulate to a substantial amount after a while.

Similarly, unplug all power equipment at the end of the day and most importantly on weekends. Appliances on standby mode still use some power even when switched off but plugged to outlets.

Close the Drapes or Blinds

Do this when leaving for the day or weekend to conserve internal heat and reduce the amount of energy needed
to raise the temperature to comfortable levels for the next working day. Some rooms don’t require heating up or cooling down much such as storage rooms as they are infrequently used. Likewise, cooler or warmer corridors will discourage employees from loitering there, increasing work time.

Program your Thermostats

Make Sure the thermostats switch off during the night and switch on only a little time before the rooms are used. Remember, HVAC systems require about 150 times the power lighting systems need. Heating and cooling comprise about half the total energy bill in offices, so save on air conditioning power and you slice off a significant portion of your power bill.

Maintain Your Equipment Well

A dirty airconditioner or heater will work harder to produce the same amount of coolness, increasing power consumption. This principle applies to all mechanical devices or parts, such as those in printers and copiers. Scheduling maintenance fo
r them will ensure efficient performance from these machines.

Make Your Own Energy

Finally, to save energy, the best way is to install solar power generators to make use of free power. The initial investment will be paid off over time through savings on power bills and, if you generate more than your needs, you may even get paid for the power you plow back into the power grid.

So save energy in your workplace as much as you can. Who knows? Maybe management will share the savings with you via bonuses and other emoluments. Then you benefit direct.

About the Author: This article was written by Kim from MSE. Kim has been blogging for about 5 years and has loved every second. Apart from blogging Kim enjoys music and exercise.

Four Ways To Spend Much Less On Your Small Business

An essential part of running a small business is constantly finding new ways to reduce costs, keeping spending to a minimum. Initially, you may be thinking that by spending less you will have to make sacrifices, damaging your business in the process. However, reducing spending does not always have to equate to a loss. Ultimately, removing unnecessary expenses in your small business will increase your budget, freeing up money that you can invest in other parts of your business.

Online Marketing

More often than not, marketing costs take up a huge amount of budget, particularly for small businesses that invest in offline methods such as direct mail. However, by simply switching or concentrating more on online marketing, you could save yourself a great deal of money, while targeting a much larger market. There are various ways you can market your business online, all of which are often low-cost and very effective. Essentially, you will be paying less for a more
successful method. You can start by creating a profile for your business on one of the many social media platforms. It is free and a great way of connecting to your customers while building up a strong following. Another idea to market your small business online is to start a blog that contains content related to your products or services.

Go Green, Go Paperless

Without realising it, a lot of money can be wasted away on paper through the sheer cost of ink, supplies and postage; not to mention the endless waste of paper. By eliminating the use of paper or even just minimising you can significantly reduce spending. Going digital is said to save a great deal of money, but not only that, it also creates a more organised working environment and is a lot more secure than having a paper trail. You can make the transition by opting for digital invoices, filing information on the computer and completely replace snail mail with email. As well as cutting spending you are
also helping the environment, which is always a positive thing.

Telephone and Web Conferencing

As a small business, spending large amounts of money on conferences, presentations and meetings really will make a significant dent in your budget, as there are a great deal of expenses involved, including travel and food. To reduce the costs, opting for a teleconference or web conference service is a great idea as you will spend a lot less for a good service than you ever would with face-to-face costs. Additionally, using such a service will allow you to connect to colleagues and clients globally.

IT Managed Service

As hiring an IT guy is a luxury to many small business, using managed services is proven to be a wise decision; you have access to IT expertise at a fraction of costs.

Managing Your Team

As your business develops so will your team, but it is essential that you manage this process carefully if you want to save money. Within a small business you need to ensure that you are regularly assessing your team’s productivity, making sure that most of your employees’ time is spent on value creating activities. Also, there are way
s that you can get the job done without having to hire an extra employee, including using interns and freelancers.