How You Can Easily Eliminate Your Credit Card Debt In 2 Years Or Less

Don’t get trapped by credit card debt forever. By making easy moves towards financial freedom, you can be debt-free in less than 2 years. Approaching credit card debt with a plan Have you accumulated a ton of credit card debt over the years and simply don’t want to have it breathing down your neck any longer? Do you want the freedom that comes with being debt-free? Do you wish that you could get rid of your debt quickly and easily without the hassle that comes with calls from collections agencies and your creditors? If so, you’re not alone and you’re also not without hope. That’s because every year millions of Americans struggle with the same issue and want to get rid of debt. The good thing is that you could be debt-free in just 2 years—if you have a plan! The first thing you need to do is sit down and create a sustainable budget for yourself or your family, one that allows you to both pay off your debt and maintain a normal and happy lifestyle. How much do you need to spend every month on rent, food, transportation and other everyday things? How much can you save by making small changes like eating out less, riding the bus every once in awhile or packing a bagged lunch instead of running out for fast food? There’s a good chance that you can find ways to start saving extra money every month to throw at your accumulating debt. You should also stop using any credit cards or other forms of credit you currently have. By doing this, you force yourself to start dealing with the problem right away. Consolidating debt and paying it off quickly Once you’ve made the necessary lifestyle changes to accommodate your newfound mission to eliminate debt, start thinking about the different options that could help you to pay off your debt in 2 years or less. One strong option is credit card consolidation, a system that allows you to take all the debt you’ve accumulated on two or more forms of credit, roll it into one balance and start paying it off right away with a lower interest rate and lower monthly minimum payments. By doing this, you eliminate the need to send out multiple payments every month and can focus on paying off your debt as a whole at a price that’s more reasonable for your situation. In addition to this, you can work directly with a credit counselor and explain that you’re interested in paying off all your debt in less than 2 years. He or she can then help you put together a plan to accomplish your goal. In most instances, this simply means paying off your debt every month with more than just your minimum payment. Instead, you’ll be finding ways to pay above and beyond what you normally would pay in order to see your debt start to dwindle down to nothing. With the right plan, you can start seeing results right away. Settling your debt with creditors Do you have a significant amount of money stashed away, maybe saved up over the years that you could use to pay off your debt? If you did, you probably would have done so already, right? But, did you know that you could pay off your debt by settling with your creditors for way less than you currently owe—provided you pay a lump sum right away to extinguish the debt? For instance, if you owe a creditor $5000, you might be able to settle your debt for just $2500 if you’re willing to make that payment right away. This way, you’ll be eliminating your debt instantly for much less than you would otherwise have to pay. This is a good option for people who have some money saved away but not enough to necessarily eliminate all their debt right away. If you want to pay off your debt in less than 2 years, investigate what option will work best for you and get started right away. Your commitment to becoming debt-free will pay off quickly!









About The Author
Dometri Quick is the development director at http://DebtConsolidationSupport.com. You can find more articles for helping you eliminate credit card debt at http://www.debtconsolidationsupport.com.

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The Sneaky Ways Creditors Get You To Pay More On Your Credit Cards

Ever feel like you just can’t pay off your debt quick enough? Here are some ways your credit card creditor may be holding you down. Increasing your credit card interest rates Do you walk out to your mailbox every month, snatch up your bills and wonder: ‘How am I ever going to be able to pay all this debt off?’ It’s a thought that rushes through the minds on millions of Americans every year as they struggle to try and make payments on debt that seems almost insurmountable. However, it’s important to know that credit companies are in the business of making money and will do just about anything to make money. Therefore, you should be careful for several things, the most important being the use of interest rates on credit cards and most other forms of credit. Interest rates are actually quite easy to understand but many people lose track of exactly what their interest rate is and eventually succumb to an overwhelming rate. Most creditors will start your interest rate off low, even as low as zero percent. At that rate, you can use your credit however you please and the creditor doesn’t see a dime. After a certain predetermined amount of time, though, the interest rate balloons and consumers are required to start paying the creditors every month just for carrying a balance. Before you take any form of credit, find out how the interest rate works, what it will be and if it will be fixed and vary over the course of a year. Once you understand how this works, you’ll be able to avoid paying unnecessary fees just for using credit. Understating the importance of minimum monthly payments Minimum monthly payments are another way that different creditors get you to pay more on your credit cards. In theory, the minimum monthly payment is a set amount that allows you to pay off the creditor—not usually the balance—every month. Most people believe that when they pay the minimum monthly amount, they’re paying the lowest amount the credit card company needs that month. But in reality, they’re usually paying off the amount the credit card company needs to make in order to turn a profit off your account. In many cases, you won’t even be lowering your overall balance at all as the credit card company’s interest rate will come right behind your minimum monthly payment and boost your balance up again. It’s important to be mindful of this and do what you can to make payments above and beyond the minimum payment required. This is the only way you’ll be able to pay down your debt and limit the amount of money you throw towards your creditors at the same time. Overcharging you for late credit card payments Like minimum monthly payments, the penalty you are charged for making a credit card payment late makes sense. After all, how will your credit card company make any money if all the customers it lends money to simply don’t decide to make payments on time? However, many credit card companies overcharge you for making late payments, which makes it even more important for you to make all payments promptly and on time. In addition to the fees you already accumulate with your interest rate, late penalties are one fee that simply doesn’t make sense. It’s a way for creditors to force you to make payments on time and charge you heavily if you don’t. If you’re not already careful about not skipping payments, consider creating a system using a calendar that ensures that you don’t miss monthly payments. You’ll be glad you did and you’ll be a whole lot less frustrated by your creditors.
About The Author
Dometri Quick is the development director at http://DebtConsolidationSupport.com. You can find more articles for helping you eliminate credit card debt at http://www.debtconsolidationsupport.com.

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Credit Card Debt Management: Helps To Fix Card Related Debts

The need of cash seldom arises when you are using a credit card. Cards are simple, readily available and does not cause too much of convenience. You can simply use it at any place at any time. When every other day you are getting lucrative offers on some other cards, definitely you will go for it. This is where it can cause a lot of problems. With increased used of multiple cards and their varying interest rates will create debt related problems. Instead of getting bogged by the debts, you can seek the assistance of credit card debt management program. The main reasons for debts related to cards are simply because of its incessant use. Moreover, cards are a major source of high interest debts. So it is better to take precaution from the beginning itself. As a first step towards managing the debts, stop using your cards to meet unwanted expenses. It is better to rely more on cash transactions and prevents you from incurring further debts. In the second and the final decisive step towards credit card debt management, you have to avail a debt consolidation loan. All your existing debts are merged in to a single amount which is then paid off with the help of the loan. The loan acquired needs to be paid back at a single interest rate. A single loan with a single interest rate is a better option rather having multiple loans with varying interest rates. The debt consolidation loan can be acquired in both the formats of secured and unsecured. Secured form of the loan requires any valuable asset to be placed as collateral. It offers a bigger amount at very low interest rate. Whereas, unsecured from of the loan can be accessed without the need of advancing any collateral. If you are having any confusion regarding the debt management, you can seek the advice of counselors who provide valuable suggestions regarding the debts. As of now you can use the online where in you can access loans and counseling as well. Credit card debt management is a process which basically shows you how to manage the debts without loosing any financial credibility. Once you use the services, you can tackle the debts without any worry.
About The Author
Gracie Bishop is associated with UK Debt Consolidations. His articles helps you to find debt consolidation loans even if you have poor credit history. For more information about Credit Card Debt Management, debt consolidation services, personal debt consolidation loans, debt management, loans, unsecured debt consolidation loans visit on http://www.ukdebtconsolidations.co.uk/

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Manage Debtors And Creditors To Improve Liquidity

Sales turnover and net profits may follow a rollercoaster pattern familiar to most business but when the cash flow dries up the game is over. Urgent attention to the management of working capital can provide every business with the cash resources to exploit its potential Most businesses will experience periods of lower sales and times when losses may be incurred as expenses exceed sales income. The situation is recoverable by producing higher sales and reducing costs and expenses. A business that runs out of cash resources is dead in the water. Debtors and sales income management The objective is to obtain payment from customers as fast as possible improving cash flow and minimising the risk of bad debts and not being paid at all. Payment terms offered to customers should be clearly stated and fixed as standard accounting figures according to the amount of funding the business is prepared to offer its clients. Because that is exactly what credit terms to customers is, free cash funding in exchange for eventual sales income. Consideration should be given to using a cash discount system to encourage sales invoices to be paid faster. In some businesses it would be appropriate to obtain up front deposits and scheduled payments. Review this practise to obtain a greater proportion of payments faster to improve liquidity. New customers should be subjected to a strict credit check. All new customers where credit check details are not available should be invoiced by the accounting function on a pro forma basis. Any businesses who fail to meet the highest credit score required should remain on a pro forma invoice basis. The credit control function needs consideration from the first step of issuing customers with a sales invoice, producing customer statements of the debt owed and a set procedure of credit control letters and telephone follow ups that actually achieve the end result of getting the cash in. An essential process in the credit control procedure would be to ensure the accountant or bookkeeper always issues sales invoices and customer statements promptly. Incorporate into the terms of trade a set of rules to invoke interest payments for late payment and late payment debt recovery costs. In the UK the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 sets out the statutory rights of business to claim interest and costs. Consider the possibility of factoring sales invoices due from debtors either by selling the sales invoices to a third party or raising cash on the value of those invoices pending payment. Factoring has the disadvantage of often not being cheap but does have the advantage of generating a regular stream of cash. Bad debts have a double impact on any business and all possible steps should be taken to reduce the risk. A bad debt not only uses valuable resources in chasing the debt with the negative impact on cash flow and liquidity but also is a straight loss to the net profit and a strong indicator that the accounting function is failing the business. Creditors and expenditure management The objective is to extend the time allowed for payment of expenses the business incurs. Consider the frequency of all payments made to suppliers. Small business have alternative payment terms available for the payment of taxes. In the UK value added tax can be paid quarterly or monthly, vat cash accounting can ease the tax liability due in critical periods and paye payments can be paid quarterly rather than monthly for smaller businesses. Every opportunity should be considered to improve liquidity and that would include the frequency which employee salaries and wages are paid. A sensitive area since it involves the most important people to the business success but adopting a payment period to coincide with the receipt of cash from customers may in some circumstances balance liquidity. General creditors are a major area to be addressed in terms of both the amount of credit received from suppliers and the time required to pay those creditor accounts. Larger orders on extended payments terms creates a risk area should the goods not be used but can greatly assist cash flow as the business is effectively borrowing free cash from its suppliers. Stock levels are crucial to financial management of the creditor total. High stock levels use valuable working capital which is offset in part by the level of creditors. Higher levels of stock financed by free credit from creditors lowers the cash flow requirements on the other parts of the business.
About The Author
Terry Cartwright designs UK Accounting Software at http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/ on excel spreadsheets providing complete Bookkeeping solutions http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/smallbusinessaccounting.htm for small to medium sized businesses

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Tips for Prescribing a Future for Your Business

Are you wondering what the future holds for your business? Whether you want to predict your future or prescribe an outcome of your choosing, you'll have plenty of company! Throughout history, we humans have tried many ways to predict the future, from reading palms to stargazing. Today, we refer to these as descriptive methods when we attempt to describe objectively what the future will be or could be. On the other hand, prescriptive methods focus on determining what the future should be. These techniques can help us clarify our preferences and values so we can create a vision of what we would like to see in our lives, businesses, or communities. Once we understand what we would like the future to represent, we're better able to take the actions required to implement it. Ideally, that future will align with our passions, gifts, and what we (or our companies) can really be the best at doing. This article suggests a two-stage process for achieving that goal. First, Identify Your "Hedgehog Concept" So, what can you be the best in the world (or at least in your community) at doing? This thought-provoking reflection is one of many from Jim Collins' "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't." Collins' team examined 1,435 companies to see which ones made substantial gains in profitability and sustained those improvements over 15 years or more. Since the 1970s, only 11 companies had risen from mediocrity to greatness and stayed there -- topping many other prosperous firms that lacked the same staying power. Of eight characteristics these companies shared, all held an unshakable adherence to becoming the best in the world at whatever they did. Each company committed to doing only those things and nothing else. That sometimes meant dropping their core businesses to pursue other things at which they could become the best in the world. Collins and his team coined the term "hedgehog concept" to reflect a single-minded determination and focus that, similar to that of the hedgehog animal, attempts to do only one thing really well, such as curl up and roll. A hedgehog concept actually represents the intersection of three areas: 1) What you're most passionate about 2) An understanding of what you could be the best at doing, and 3) A metric that drives your economic engine and helps you measure results. Keep in mind that according to Collins, this concept is not a goal, strategy, or plan, but an understanding of what you can and can't be the best at doing. Until you develop your hedgehog concept, you won't know your true vision, mission, or purpose. Next, Define Your "Business Success Criteria" Do you have a crystal clear idea of the types of business undertakings that align with your gifts, talents, passions, and strengths? In that same context, have you thought about whether your business can be the very best in the world at doing those things? If the answers are "yes," you are in an excellent position to choose the ventures that can give you the greatest satisfaction and results. If you're not yet totally clear about the answers to these questions, developing a set of "business success criteria" can enable you to select worthwhile endeavors with much deeper insight, and thus set the conditions for successfully pursuing them. A hedgehog concept thereby represents part of the formula you can devise to identify and choose among your very best options. Why is this so important? It's not uncommon for people to wander into businesses, projects, and professions opportunistically, which means that they often select the next available and convenient thing that comes along. At times, this may be necessary for financial reasons. But unless we understand our underlying success criteria, we might not recognize the options that truly fuel and inspire us -- those that are best suited to our passions and strengths. Some of your criteria could be practical considerations, and others more lofty ideals. But all of your criteria will be essential to achieving balance, fulfillment, prosperity, and higher contribution in your life. In conclusion, a set of carefully crafted success criteria fueled by a potent hedgehog concept provides an unbeatable strategic advantage, and an excellent direction-finder for prescribing your future!
About The Author
Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is the creator of the award-winning "Straight Talk on Boosting Business Performance" success program, and specializes in helping people align their life passions with their business purpose. To learn more about her tools and resources and sign up for other free tips like these, visit her site at http://LearnShareProsper.com

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Mario Online Games With An Internet Connection And A Computer

Anyone who has heard of the company called Nintendo is likely familiar with their mascot character Mario. Some people wish they could go back and play their favorite video games they played when they were younger; not realizing it is possible to play those great games again today. Unlike when we were younger, you no longer need an expensive game console or special controllers to play the games that you have always loved. Playing mario online games (http://www.letsplaygamesnow.com/tag/mario-online-games) is just one of the many things you can do online, from home, with the computer you already use every day. It is not difficult to find mario online games. Simply perform a search on your favorite search engine and you will discover numerous games featuring both Mario and his brother Luigi. Often mario online games can be utilized by just logging into a gaming site. On other sites it will be necessary to download online games (http://www.letsplaygamesnow.com/tag/download-online-games) so that you can play them when you are offline. In fact, besides mario online games, you can find many other types of games on the Internet. One type of game, rpg online games (http://www.letsplaygamesnow.com/tag/rpg-online-games), are becoming more and more common. Rpg stands for role playing games. This is where you become a fictional character and complete the game through the eyes of that character. Sometime you have the choice of which character you want to be, and sometimes you get to create a character from scratch. It all depends on which game you choose. Just like the famous Sims series of video games, role playing games are similar in that your character can choose a job and go about everyday activities just like any normal person. As you earn money or meet online friends, you can buy new possessions just like a person would in the real world. Other role playing games work on a more limited level in that the character has a task to perform. It may be saving a treasure or destroying an enemy, but once the task is done you (as your character) move on to the next task or find you have completed the game. In any case, online games of all types are becoming more and more popular these days as the technology improves.
About The Author
Aiden Zapora By using your computer at home, you can be playing Mario online games (http://www.letsplaygamesnow.com/), and many others, online from your home. Finding such online games is much easier than you might think. Using your favorite search engine you should be able to find many games featuring both Mario and his brother Luigi. Some of these online games can be played just by logging onto a gaming site. Other sites will tell you how to download online games (http://www.letsplaygamesnow.com/tag/download-online-games) so that you can play them on your computer when you are offline. There are other games on the Internet besides Mario type games. RPG online games (http://www.letsplaygamesnow.com/tag/rpg-online-games) have become more common and popular recently.

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Understanding the Mortgage Meltdown; What happened and Who's to Blame

People are losing their homes and many more will lose their jobs before the mortgage meltdown works its way through the system. To paraphrase Alan Greenspan's remarks on March 17th, 2008, “The current financial crisis in the US is likely to be judged in retrospect as the most wrenching since the end of the Second World War. The crisis will leave many casualties.” How many casualties? Experts are predicting that in the next few years, between 15 and 20 million homeowners could have homes worth less than what they owe. Walking away from a bad situation may actually make sense for people who mortgages that are 'upside down' considering the fact that refinancing is out of the question and home equity is nonexistent. It seems quite easy to point fingers at greedy Wall Street titans for causing the sub-prime mortgage crises. They after all, put together the deals that allowed banks to underwrite mortgages and then offload these liabilities to investors. What many fail to realize is that there is no shortage of blame to go around from homeowners buying more home than they could afford to real estate agents looking for more commission dollars. Mortgage brokers and bankers, the banks themselves, ratings agencies such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's, Wall Street, the Fed and last but certainly not least, the Federal Government. Let's start with the homeowners--the people who are now in the process or soon to enter the process, of losing their homes. Some of these people had never before owned a home and as such, may not have been prepared for the costs associated with homeownership. Basic financial literacy is sorely lacking in this country despite there being no shortage of budgeting and tracking programs readily available such as Quicken and Microsoft Money. The lack of financial literacy does not absolve these buyers of their responsibility. Every borrower receives a truth in lending disclosure statement. Here is a portion of what the act covers: The purpose of TILA (Truth In Lending Act) is to promote the informed use of consumer credit by requiring disclosures about its terms and cost. TILA also gives consumers the right to cancel certain credit transactions that involve a lien on a consumer's principal dwelling, regulates certain credit card practices, and provides a means for fair and timely resolution of credit billing disputes. With the exception of certain high-cost mortgage loans, TILA does not regulate the charges that may be imposed for consumer credit. Rather, it requires a maximum interest rate to be stated in variable-rate contracts secured by the consumer's dwelling. It also imposes limitations on home equity plans that are subject to the requirements of Sec. 226.5b and mortgages that are subject to the requirements of Sec. 226.32. The regulation prohibits certain acts or practices in connection with credit secured by a consumer's principal dwelling. Much of the subprime mortgage crisis can be traced directly back to variable-rate mortgages. As is clearly stated above, “TILA does not regulate the charge that may be imposed for consumer credit. Rather, it requires a maximum interest rate to be stated in variable-rate contracts secured by the consumers dwelling.” It also clearly states that TILA also gives consumers the right to cancel certain credit transactions that involve a lien on a consumer's principal dwelling. One has to wonder whether or not these homeowners: 1. Bothered to read the truth in lending act disclosure at all. 2. Understood what the truth in lending act disclosure meant. 3. Chose to ignore the information printed clearly the truth in lending act disclosure. A number of months ago, just as the subprime mortgage crisis was beginning to unfold, The New York Daily News ran an article about a family in New York City, who had bought a home and were now faced with the prospect of foreclosure. The article was sympathetic to this family, highlighting the fact that they're living the American dream and that this dream was about to come to an end. What I found to be distressing was the fact that clearly visible in the photo that accompanied this sympathetic article was a very expensive flat screen television hanging on the wall. Perhaps I'm naïve, but I can assure you that if I were faced with the prospect of losing my home and having my family put out on the street, there is absolutely no way that I would still have that expensive television hanging on my wall. It would have been one of the first things to be sold and some financial relief would be found by jettisoning what I'm sure was the expensive cable bill. Clearly the public needs easy access to financial literacy courses. Too bad we don't see the need to make this a mandatory course of study in our educational system. Mortgage bankers and brokers have in the last four or five years been raking in cash by the bucket load in the form of commissions paid when mortgages they've originated, close. Many of these people have not needed to do much in the way of prospecting. Instead, their phones have run off the hook as people have jumped on the homeownership and refinancing and take out extra cash bandwagon, despite their ability to pay for their home. No-document loans were readily available without the borrower having to produce documentation that backed up their income. Clearly this practice can and indeed has, lead to substandard loan underwriting processes. Were some of these mortgage bankers and brokers dishonest? Sure. Were all of them dishonest? I think not. To have a massive nationwide conspiracy, where thousands and thousands of people involved in the mortgage banking and mortgage brokering profession got together to create this situation is simply not feasible. Yes, some of the blame does belong with those in the mortgage industry, but they were simply a small cog in the huge machine that created this mess. Let's discuss real estate agents. In 2007, we bought a home, and also sold a home. The agent we used to purchase our home was absolutely fantastic. In our opinion, she went above and beyond to make our deal happen. She answered every phone call, followed up on every concern and was the epitome of professionalism. We consider this individual to be a friend, and we have sent referrals her way that have resulted in her earning additional commissions. We will continue to recommend her to all who ask or mention that they'd like to buy or sell a home in our area. The real estate agent, we used to sell our home, could not have been more different. We got our old home ready to sell prior to closing on our new home. We decided to list it as “For Sale by Owner.” In the event that we didn't sell this home on our own, it was our intention to list it with an agent as soon as we had closed on the purchase our new home. Literally, from the day we put the sign in front of our home and listed it on a “For Sale by Owner” website we were inundated with phone calls from real estate agents. We were told many lies and were constantly harassed; although we had already made it quite clear to every agent who called, and there were more to 60 who did; that we were willing to pay half the commission-the same as they would have received had they sold another agent's listing. We also told every agent that called that we had already lined up an agent to sell our home in the event that we chose to no longer sell it ourselves. Our deadline was the closing date of our new home purchase. We did have an interested buyer who shortly after our closing date decided to keep looking so we listed our home with a local agent so that we could concentrate on getting our new home ready for our moving date at the end of the school year. This agent showed our home a maximum of two times and got an offer which we accepted. We ended up getting $1,000 less than we had wanted in a declining Real Estate market. The agents who had called many times to harass us called our listing agent on a number of occasions and he lied telling them that the house was under contract when in fact it wasn't at that time-clearly a breach of our agent's fiduciary duty. Quite frankly an ethical agent would have continued to show our home until closing in the event that the deal fell through. But wait, there's more. Our agent also acted as the buyer's mortgage broker. At the closing table, we learned that he had signed documents from the buyer stating that he (our agent) represented them and we had signed documents stating that he represented us. We also learned that the buyer had effectively put down approximately 2-3% of the purchase price when financed closing costs were factored into the equation. Their first mortgage had what we thought was a high fixed rate and their second mortgage came with a rate in excess of 8.5%. Because the closing happened in August, literally in the midst of the first wave of the meltdown, if they didn't close on the day they did (August 31st, 2007), Citibank wasn't going to extend their rate. When my wife & I have bought houses in the past, it had always been a very happy day. These people looked absolutely shell-shocked at the closing table. I'm not convinced that they knew just how much their monthly payment was going to be until closing day. We knew down to the penny well in advance having budgeted and planned everything on a spreadsheet. Were these people stupid or just inexperienced and mislead by a greedy combination of real estate agent & mortgage broker? I'm extremely confident that they are intelligent people but inexperienced and taken advantage of by an unscrupulous agent. The banks are also culpable. Prior to bank deregulation, Savings and Loans provided mortgages to home buyers and kept these loans on their books. Non-performing loans had a negative effect on the S&L's profitability which of course caused tighter lending guidelines such as job stability and decent down payments in order for prospective home buyers to be approved for a mortgage. Way back then, a home buyer had to actually save up enough money for a down payment 10 or even 20% before a bank would ever consider underwriting a mortgage. The checks & balances kept banks solvent and borrowers responsible. Although this approach worked, some cried foul stating that the regulated system was racist and discriminatory-and there certainly was some truth to this. Skipping forward to the present, banks made a bundle on mortgages over the past five or six years. For the most part, they allowed their underwriting criteria to be stretched so far out of alignment that almost anyone could and indeed did, qualify for a mortgage despite their ability to pay. Some folks even applied for and received mortgages for more than the property was worth. Sometimes for as much as 25% more than their property was worth! Under the prior system, 125% mortgages would not have been possible because of course these loans were held on the banks' books and could have led to losses that would have had to have been absorbed directly by the bank. So what went wrong? Under the current system, these loans were sold to the big Wall Street investment firms who repackaged them as collateralized mortgage obligations (CMO's), Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS's) and other similar acronyms. These instruments were then sent to the ratings agencies for their blessing and more importantly a letter rating. Many of these structured finance deals receive AAA ratings-the highest ratings available meaning that in theory, these instruments were least likely to default. How does one create a 'triple A' or AAA rated financial instrument out of sub-prime mortgages? Herein lies the magic. These Asset Backed Securities (ABS) are made up of different tranches or slices, each carrying a different risk and reward level. The first dollar of principle and interest is applied to the securities with the highest rating, and the first dollar of loss is applied to the tranche with the lowest ratings. The lower slices are designed to provide a security blanket that in theory protects the higher-rated securities. The investment banks that package or 'structure' these securities in order to earn fat fees when they sell them to investors are the same entities that pay the ratings agencies to rate these instruments. Clearly the possibility for conflict of interest is present. If investors and not the investment banks that stand to rake in millions in fees were to pay for the rating, the potential for this conflict of interest would be negated. Furthermore, the investment banks have a vested interest in convincing the ratings agencies of the credit worthiness of these securities. So we've already pointed fingers at homeowners, some greedy, many more I suspect, naïve or uninformed, real estate agents-one out of more than 60 in my experience was a gem, mortgage brokers & bankers, banks, Wall Street and ratings agencies so who's left? The Federal Reserve and the Government of course. The Fed as its known is responsible of the country's monetary policy and for supervision and regulation of banks. This is the definition of the Fed's roles in their own words: Monetary Policy The Fed is best known for its role in making and carrying out the country's monetary policy-that is, for influencing money and credit conditions in the economy in order to promote the goals of high employment, sustainable growth, and stable prices. The long-term goal of the Fed's monetary policy is to ensure that money and credit grow sufficiently to encourage non-inflationary economic expansion. The Fed cannot guarantee that our economy will grow at a healthy pace, or that everyone will have a job. The attainment of these goals depends on the decisions of millions of people around the country. Decisions regarding how much to spend and how much to save, how much to invest in acquiring skills and education, how much to spend on new plant and equipment, or how many hours a week to work may be some of them. What the Fed can do, is create an environment that is conducive to healthy economic growth. It does so by pursuing a goal of price stability-that is, by trying to prevent inflation from becoming a problem. Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in prices over a period of time. A stable level of prices is most conducive to maximum sustained output and employment. Also, stable prices encourage saving and, indirectly, capital formation because it prevents the erosion of asset values by unanticipated inflation. Inflation causes many distortions in the market. Inflation: · hurts people with fixed income-when prices rise consumers cannot buy as much as they could previously · discourages savings · reduces economic growth because the economy needs a certain level of savings to finance investments that boost economic growth · makes it harder for businesses to plan-it is difficult to decide how much to produce, because businesses can't predict the demand for their product at the higher prices they will have to charge in order to cover their costs Bank Regulation & Supervision The Fed is one of the several Government agencies that share responsibility for ensuring the safety and soundness of our banking system. The Fed has primary responsibility for supervising bank holding companies, financial holding companies, state-chartered banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System, and the Edge Act and agreement corporations, through which U.S. banking organizations operate abroad. The Fed and other agencies share the responsibility of overseeing the operation of foreign banking organizations in the United States. To insure that the banking system remains competitive and operates in the public interest, the Fed considers applications by banks for mergers or to open new branches. The passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act in November 1999, was the culmination of a multi-decade effort to eliminate many of the restrictions on the activities of banking organizations. Some of the main provisions of the GLB are: · Repeals the existing limitations on the ability of banks to affiliate with securities and insurance firms · Creates a new organizational form that allows banking organizations to carry new powers. This new entity called a "financial holding company," (FHC) and its non-banking subsidiaries are allowed to engage in financial activities such as insurance and securities underwriting The Fed's enlarged role as an umbrella supervisor of FHCs is similar to its role in supervising bank holding companies. The Federal Reserve Banks will supervise and regulate the FHCs while each affiliate is still overseen by its traditional functional regulator. The Fed has to delineate the financial relationship between a bank and other FHC affiliates. Its primary goal is to establish barriers protecting depository institutions from the problems of a failing affiliate. To do this efficiently the Fed has to ensure increased communication, cooperation, and coordination with the many supervisors of the more diversified FHCs. The Fed has access to data on risks across the entire organization, as well as information on the firm's management of those risks. Regulators will be in a position to evaluate and presumably act on risks that threaten the safety and soundness of the insured banks. It would appear that the Fed has failed to curb housing inflation which played a role in this entire debacle then made matters worse and in their efforts or lack there of, to properly supervise banking institutions. Finally the government, a.k.a. Uncle Sam, the big Kahuna 10,000 pound elephant etc. Where do we begin? How about with: 'Where were they?' It now appears that after millions of horses are out of the barn (some horses ran, others were foreclosed upon) the government wants to step in with a bailout to save the rest. While nobody wants to see people lose their homes, the question that must be raised is this: What about all those of us who were responsible? Those of us, who scrimped and saved up a decent down payment, bought less-house than we could afford and who live below our means? Many of us drive older cars and keep them longer. We don't run out and buy the latest and greatest at inflated prices, we watch, wait and budget. When the World Trade Center was attacked, families who decided not to sue received government payouts and we certainly don't begrudge them as I'm sure that given the choice, they'd prefer to still have their loved-ones over the money. The problem, in typical government fashion is that those who were responsible and had insurance policies in place received less than those who were irresponsible and didn't plan ahead. I'm not talking about dishwashers at Windows on the World and blue collar workers; I'm talking about executives, traders and people who should have known better. Now our government, the same government that sat by idly watching as this bubble got bigger and bigger despite many warnings, wants to step in and bailout people who are in danger of losing their homes. There has been no talk about educating people, let's not teach people to fish, rather, let's give them a fish and bail them out once again at the expense of those who are responsible. Clearly, by keeping the majority of the population financially ignorant, there is a lot of money to be made by the poverty industry.
About The Author
Richard Gandon is the Managing Director of The Financial Learning Network, dedicated low-cost online to financial literacy seminars. His 'Understanding the Stock Market" course was made into a CD-ROM and is in use in more that 50,000 classrooms nationwide. Every year since 1998, Richard has teamed up with a fifth grade class in Georgia to teach them about the stock market online. Richard has more than 20 years of financial services industry experience including as a broker, trader, licensing trainer and managed both a sales group and Central Inquiry, a Historical Equity & Index Research group at Standard & Poor's. http://financiallearningnetwork.com/

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Bad Credit Loans: Get Money And Solve Your Cash Issues

When the problems are numerous, friends are few. These words are very apt when it comes to the situation of bad credit. Fulfilling your cash needs when having a bad credit history, it may be difficult to get the support you want. Getting external help will still suit you as the money is available without any hassle through bad credit loans. The borrowers who have a credit score which is lower than 580 in the FICO report may be suffering from this problem due to various factors. It can be arrears, defaults, missed repayments or CCJs that have caused this problem. But the borrowers still deserve a chance to avail these loans for their needs. Through these loans, the borrowers can choose whichever option that they like out of the secured and the unsecured form, according to suitability. The loan form also depends upon the ability of the borrower to pledge collateral with the lender for the money. If a bigger amount is required by the borrowers, they can take up the secured form by pledging an asset with the lenders. Amounts can be borrowed within the range of £5000-£75000 for a term of 5-25 years. The home, car or any asset of the borrower can be pledged as collateral. Borrowers who need smaller amount can also take up money and that too without pledging any assets. This is possible through unsecured form of these loans. Money that is obtainable by the borrowers lies in the range of £1000-£25000 and has to be repaid in a term of 6 months to 10 years. Tenants and non-homeowners can also take up these loans for their needs easily. Adverse credit history of borrowers may entail a higher rate of interest. But with the help of online research and comparison, the borrowers can take up low rate deals with the help of comparison of the loan quotes easily. Bad credit loans are a great opportunity for the borrowers to avail money at the most needful times. It is a great respite for borrowers stuck in bad credit.
About The Author
Simon Tauffel has been associated with Bad Credit Unsecured Personal Loans. To find more about Bad Credit Loans, Unsecured Loans, Personal Loans, Unsecured Personal Loans, Bad credit unsecured loans visit http://www.badcreditunsecuredpersonalloans.co.uk/

MLM Prospecting: Creating a Win-Win Outcome

In any business endeavor, a win-win outcome is always the most satisfying and productive. It certainly beats the alternatives - win-lose, lose-win, or (heaven forbid!) lose-lose - in which one or both parties walks away feeling an assortment of negative emotions, possibly including disappointment, anger, resentment, and a desire to throw crockery against the wall. What do we mean by win-win when it comes to finding new partners for our network marketing business? For the prospector (you), a win probably means acquiring a new business partner with the following attributes: easy to work with, motivated, determined to succeed, reliable and accountable, upbeat, honest, hardworking, and so on. Of course, you would probably also want your recruit to have some free time and enough money to get started. For the prospect... well, we really don't know what a win would be for her, do we? We could make an assumption and guess. We could assume that she just wants to make a lot of money. But what if we guess wrong? What if her heart's desire is to help people and make a difference in the world. The only way we can know for sure what's going through our prospect's head is to talk with her -- ask questions, listen closely to the answers, ask more questions, and do a lot more listening. One word of caution, though: When interviewing a prospect, it's very tempting to listen just until she mentions some problem your product or opportunity might help solve. And then... (sound of bugles) YOU'RE OFF AND RUNNING! Bending her ear about how wonderful your company is and how much she's going to LOVE what the products will do for her. But telling why YOU think your opportunity is the greatest thing since sliced bread is not the goal. The goal is to reach a win-win outcome, and there's more to it than just presenting your favorite features and benefits and assuming that's what your prospect wants, too. If you're truly dedicated to win-win, your goal is to reach a deep understanding of what a win would be for her and then honestly assessing whether or not your opportunity would create that. If it's not a good fit, let it go. Thank her for her time and move on. On the other hand, if you believe your opportunity is a match for her, go ahead and explain to her why you think so. Be sure to connect the dots between her specific problems and how your opportunity can address them. Then she signs up, right? Not quite. Actually, there's yet another critical step you both must take before reaching a win-win outcome. Recently, I started reading a book that really gets into the whole win-win strategy, "The New Conceptual Selling" by Stephen E. Heiman and Diane Sanchez. (Although it was written mainly for business-to-business salespeople, most of the principles the book lays out are applicable to network marketers, too.) It describes three stages of decision-making in the sales process. Stage 1: The decision-maker (your prospect) comes to a better understanding of the situation she's facing. (This is where your question-answer dialogue helps her.) Stage 2: The decision-maker explores her possible options and solutions. (This is that other critical step I mentioned, and it's where many network marketers falter.) Stage 3: The decision-maker puts it all together and picks the best option for herself. Why do I say that many MLMers falter in the second stage? The answer is that we naturally want OUR option to be the only one the prospect considers. But the person sitting before us must be free to consider ALL her choices, or her final decision will never be satisfying to her. (By the way, this is a common problem with many salespeople, not just network marketers.) Plus, people know when they're being pushed or manipulated. Throughout this whole conversation, you've been creating rapport and building trust. If you suddenly start pitching your solution as the only one, your prospect will close up again before your very eyes. She might start talking about how she needs to think a few things over - and maybe she'll get back to you in a couple of weeks. Maybe. In other words, you just lost her. Or if you do succeed in manipulating her into agreeing to your solution without giving her a chance to think about her other choices, she's likely to feel buyer's remorse down the road and secretly resent you for it forever. That's certainly no way to begin a healthy business relationship, is it? If you want to play a positive role in your prospect's decision-making process and achieve your win-win goal, you must make it totally clear to her, both in your words and in your actions, that you support her right to explore all her different options. The good news is, if you truly understand her situation and genuinely believe that your opportunity is her best solution, and if you have effectively communicated why you think that way, chances are pretty good that your prospect will end up agreeing with you. And then you will get to enjoy the most treasured of all outcomes. Your new business relationship will be launched in an atmosphere of mutual respect and commitment, with the positive expectation that it will continue indefinitely. You and your prospect will each get what you want, and you'll both feel terrific about your decisions.
About The Author
Liz Monte is particularly intrigued by new trends in network marketing that could potentially transform the industry's negative image and lead to the widespread acceptance of a kindler and gentler approach to direct marketing. She invites you to visit her website at http://www.wisenetworkmarketer.com

Invest In Yourself – Your Career, Future Income Stream, Education And Training

The advice often given to young couples starting off in life is “Not to buy what you cannot afford”। The same basic advice should be heeded by many। If you cannot afford it- then do not buy the item। But what of investing in your own future in terms of an investment in your personal education or training as well as investments in your own personal career. Is this not getting ahead in life? Is this not money well spent? Even if you have to borrow and go into debt is this not money well spent? If at the end of the day , year or decade you will be much further ahead in position , salary as well as benefits in addition to “job” and “personal” satisfaction is this not money, time and effort well spent and allocated. ? Indeed it is and can well be. In the case of your education a dollar borrowed now will result in better jobs- that you will most likely find more challenging and enjoyable , and have a lot more financial reward than a job on the status scale – say as a bus driver or a technician doing oil jobs at your local Wal-Mart. In the case of a vehicle or car loan it may be a godsend. If your vehicle is not reliable – then how can you show up on time, keep your job without an image and reputation of reliability? Not only do you want to keep your employment and income associated with the job but also the job references from your employment superiors for use with other employers for better positions and pay, or for promotion within your present organization. You may even run into a case of promotion within your present firm to another branch office or plant. Not having reliable transport may limit your promotion offerings and flexibility. In addition, if you take out a loan to purchase that vehicle, you may well have upscaled and upgraded your car or SUV, from the models that you most likely would have purchased. By doing so, and driving a higher grade auto model, you may well appear as a more established, senior, more experienced and established employee as well as individual. Fortunately or unfortunately in life most comes down to appearances and perceptions. There may be a much better and / or better paying job but its way across town, or in an area not served by the bus transit system. Or it may be the case that there is bus service - but if devours a good two to three hours a day of travel time. Good bye to your personal social life. You may have all the money in the world – the wealth of Bill Gates Himself and yet no time or energy to enjoy it. So much for all that pay of that new wonderful job. A real step foreword as they say. It is always a case of reward versus cost or cost versus benefit. It is a case by case analysis. In addition you should think of additional or add on costs. Do not stretch yourself too thin – financially. A course at university may not be offered in your calendar year – you will have to complete your schooling fully at a later date than expected. A course may be full – ditto for time delay. Or you may even have to repeat a course or change plans along the way necessitating longer time duration of studies. Leave a buffer of funding both for yourself and as well with the agency that provided the loan – be at bank, savings and loan, credit union or even parents or relatives. Don’t break the bank so to speak at the first step. The same analysis of benefit versus costs prevails in the car / transport / job scenario situation. Many people will drive across town for a bargain to save a dollar and spend $ 10 on gas costs in the process. Incorporate the price of gas into your final net salary not as an aside. Lastly and most importantly – always pay your bills. Never take on more than you can chew, or in this case afford. Before making that commitment for a loan or undertaking always evaluate carefully before signing on the bottom line. It’s not only a matter of convenience. Your credibility itself is on the line, in addition to your personal honor and integrity and reputation. Pay your bills on time – even earlier than required. This applies to all loans – whether they are for rent, mortgage, utility bills, bank loans, charge card payments or student loans. If you cannot pay in full, then at least pay a bit above the minimum payment. If you are really stuck then contact the lender. Explain the situation honestly. Make a commitment and follow through. Remember the whole point of the exercise was your self improvement – an investment in yourself. To not take the exercise seriously is to shortchange yourself and your future opportunities as well as income stream in the future. To borrow for yourself and personal gain make prudent sense.

About The Author
Maxwell Z. Rubin Winnipeg Job Bank http://www.winnipegjobshark.com Property Tax Reduction http://www.realtytaxconsultant.com/ Car Payments Vancouver British Columbia http://www.secondchancefinance.ca

Manage Debtors And Creditors To Improve Liquidity

Manage Debtors And Creditors To Improve Liquidity by: Terry Cartwright



Sales turnover and net profits may follow a rollercoaster pattern familiar to most business but when the cash flow dries up the game is over. Urgent attention to the management of working capital can provide every business with the cash resources to exploit its potential Most businesses will experience periods of lower sales and times when losses may be incurred as expenses exceed sales income. The situation is recoverable by producing higher sales and reducing costs and expenses. A business that runs out of cash resources is dead in the water. Debtors and sales income management The objective is to obtain payment from customers as fast as possible improving cash flow and minimising the risk of bad debts and not being paid at all. Payment terms offered to customers should be clearly stated and fixed as standard accounting figures according to the amount of funding the business is prepared to offer its clients. Because that is exactly what credit terms to customers is, free cash funding in exchange for eventual sales income. Consideration should be given to using a cash discount system to encourage sales invoices to be paid faster. In some businesses it would be appropriate to obtain up front deposits and scheduled payments. Review this practise to obtain a greater proportion of payments faster to improve liquidity. New customers should be subjected to a strict credit check. All new customers where credit check details are not available should be invoiced by the accounting function on a pro forma basis. Any businesses who fail to meet the highest credit score required should remain on a pro forma invoice basis. The credit control function needs consideration from the first step of issuing customers with a sales invoice, producing customer statements of the debt owed and a set procedure of credit control letters and telephone follow ups that actually achieve the end result of getting the cash in. An essential process in the credit control procedure would be to ensure the accountant or bookkeeper always issues sales invoices and customer statements promptly. Incorporate into the terms of trade a set of rules to invoke interest payments for late payment and late payment debt recovery costs. In the UK the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 sets out the statutory rights of business to claim interest and costs. Consider the possibility of factoring sales invoices due from debtors either by selling the sales invoices to a third party or raising cash on the value of those invoices pending payment. Factoring has the disadvantage of often not being cheap but does have the advantage of generating a regular stream of cash. Bad debts have a double impact on any business and all possible steps should be taken to reduce the risk. A bad debt not only uses valuable resources in chasing the debt with the negative impact on cash flow and liquidity but also is a straight loss to the net profit and a strong indicator that the accounting function is failing the business. Creditors and expenditure management The objective is to extend the time allowed for payment of expenses the business incurs. Consider the frequency of all payments made to suppliers. Small business have alternative payment terms available for the payment of taxes. In the UK value added tax can be paid quarterly or monthly, vat cash accounting can ease the tax liability due in critical periods and paye payments can be paid quarterly rather than monthly for smaller businesses. Every opportunity should be considered to improve liquidity and that would include the frequency which employee salaries and wages are paid. A sensitive area since it involves the most important people to the business success but adopting a payment period to coincide with the receipt of cash from customers may in some circumstances balance liquidity. General creditors are a major area to be addressed in terms of both the amount of credit received from suppliers and the time required to pay those creditor accounts. Larger orders on extended payments terms creates a risk area should the goods not be used but can greatly assist cash flow as the business is effectively borrowing free cash from its suppliers. Stock levels are crucial to financial management of the creditor total. High stock levels use valuable working capital which is offset in part by the level of creditors. Higher levels of stock financed by free credit from creditors lowers the cash flow requirements on the other parts of the business.
About The Author
Terry Cartwright designs UK Accounting Software at http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/ on excel spreadsheets providing complete Bookkeeping solutions http://www.diyaccounting.co.uk/smallbusinessaccounting.htm for small to medium sized businesses

How To Write A Successful Business Plan

Whether you are planning to start a brand-new business, expand an existing company, or get financing for a business venture, you will need to write a business plan. A business plan not only lends your business a sense of credibility, but also helps you to cover all your bases, increasing your chances of success. Although writing a business plan can be a lengthy, intimidating project, it is not necessarily difficult. Here is an overview of how to write a successful business plan. What to Include in Your Business Plan Your business plan needs to demonstrate that you have thoroughly considered all aspects of running your business. To that end, the standard business plan has nine major sections, covering everything from your business’s mission statement to a detailed financial analysis. Executive Summary The first – and most important – section of your business plan is the executive summary. This section is so important that it should literally be the first thing the reader sees – even before the table of contents! However, it should also be written last, as you’ll have a better understanding of the overall message of your business plan after you’ve researched and written the other sections. One of the most important parts of the executive summary is the mission statement. The mission statement is only three or four sentences long, but it should pack the most punch out of everything else in your business plan: Those four sentences are responsible for not only defining your business, but also capturing the interest of your reader. The rest of your executive summary should fill in the important details that the mission statement glosses over. For instance, your executive summary should include a short history of the business, including founder profiles and start date; a current snapshot, listing locations, numbers of employees, and products or services offered; and a summary of future plans and goals. This section is a candidate for a bulleted format, which allows you to list main points in a manner that is easy to scan. Avoid using too much detail – remember, this section is a summary. A page or two is usually sufficient for an executive summary. Market Analysis The next section of your business plan focuses on market analysis. In order to show that your business has a reasonable chance for success, you will need to thoroughly research the industry and the market you intend to sell to. No bank or investor is going to back a doomed venture, so this section is sure to fall under especially close scrutiny if you are looking for financing. Your market analysis should describe your industry, including the size, growth rate, and trends that could affect the industry. This section should also describe your target market – that is, the type or group of customers that your company intends to serve. The description of your target market should include detail such as: • Distinguishing characteristics • The needs your company or product line will meet • What media and/or marketing methods you’ll use to reach them • What percentage of your target market you expect to be able to wrest away from your competitors In addition, your market analysis should include the results of any market tests you have done, and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors. Company Description After your market analysis, your business plan will need to include a description of your company. This section should describe: • The nature of your business • The needs of the market • How your business will meet these needs • Your target market, including specific individuals and/or organizations • The factors that set you apart from your competition and make you likely to succeed Although some of these things overlap with the previous section, they are still necessary parts of your company description. Each section of your business plan should have the ability to stand on its own if need be. In other words, the company description should thoroughly describe your company, even if certain aspects are covered in other sections. Organization and Management Once you have described the nature and purpose of your company, you will need to explain your staff setup. This section should include: • The division of labor – how company processes are divided among the staff • The management hierarchy • Profiles of the company’s owner(s), management personnel, and the Board of Directors • Employee incentives, such as salary, benefits packages, and bonuses This goal of this section is to demonstrate not only good organization within the company, but also the ability to create loyalty in your employees. Long-term employees minimize human resource costs and increase a business’s chances for success, so banks and investors will want to see that you have an effective system in place for maintaining your staff. Marketing and Sales Management The purpose of the marketing and sales section of your business plan is to outline your strategies for marketing your products or services. This section also plans for company growth by describing how the growth could take place. The section should describe your company’s: • Marketing methods • Distributions methods • Type of sales force • Sales activities • Growth strategies Product or Services Following the marketing section of your business plan, you will need a section focusing on the product or services your business offers. This is more than a simple description of your product or services, though. You will also need to include: • The specific benefits your product or service offers customers • The specific needs of the market, and how your product will meet them • The advantages your product has over your competitors • Any copyright, trade secret, or patent information pertaining to your product • Where any new products or services are in the research and development process • Current industry research that you could use in the development of products and services Funding Request Only once you have described your business from head to toe are you ready to detail your funding needs. This section should include everything a bank or investor needs in order to understand what type of funding you want: • How much money you need now • How much money you think you will need over the next five years • How the money you borrow will be used • How long you will need funding • What type of funding you want (i.e. loans, investors, etc.) • Any other terms you want the funding arrangement to include Financials The financials section in your business plan supports your request for outside funding. This section provides an analysis of your company’s prospective financial success. The section also details your company’s financial track record for the past three to five years, unless you are seeking financing for a startup business. The financials section should include: • Company income statements for prior years • Balance sheets for prior years • Cash flow statements for prior years • Forecasted company income statements • Forecasted balance sheets • Forecasted cash flow statements • Projections for the next five years – every month or quarter for the first year, with longer intervals for the remaining years • Collateral you can use to secure a loan The financials section is a great place to include visuals such as graphs, particularly if you predict a positive trend in your projected financials. A graph allows the reader to quickly take in this information, and may do a better job of encouraging a bank or investor to finance your business. However, be sure that the amount of financing you are requesting is in keeping with your projected financials – no matter how impressive your projections are, if you are asking for more money than is warranted, no bank or investor will give it to you. Appendices The appendix is the final section in your business plan. Essentially, this is where you put all of the information that doesn’t fit in the other eight sections, but that someone – particularly a bank or investor – might need to see. For instance, the market analysis section of your business plan may list the results of market studies you have done as part of your market research. Rather than listing the details of the studies in that section, where they will appear cumbersome and detract from the flow of your business plan, you can provide this information in an appendix. Other information that should be relegated to an appendix includes: • Credit histories for both you and your business • Letters of reference • References that have bearing on your company and your product or service, such as magazines or books on the topic • Company licenses and patents • Copies of contracts, leases, and other legal documents • Resumes of your top managers • Names of business consultants, such as your accountant and attorney Writing a Successful Business Plan Despite the quantity of information contained in your business plan, it should be laid out in a format that is easy to read. Just like with any piece of business writing, it is important to craft your business plan with your intended audience in mind – and the bankers, investors, and other busy professionals who will read your business plan almost certainly won’t have time to read a tedious document with long-winded paragraphs and large blocks of text. Business plans for startup companies and company expansions are typically between twenty to forty pages long, but formatting actually accounts for a lot of this length. A strong business plan uses bullet points throughout to break up long sections and highlight its main points. Visuals such as tables and charts are also used to quickly relay specific information, such as trends in sales and other financial information. These techniques ensure that the reader can skim the business plan quickly and efficiently. Think of your audience as only having fifteen minutes to spend on each business plan that comes across their desks. In that fifteen minutes, you not only have to relay your most important points, but also convince the reader that your business venture merits a financial investment. Your best bet is a well-researched business plan, with an organized, easy-to-read format and clear, confident prose.
About The Author
Jason Kay is a former professional business plan writer and provides business start up advice. He contributes to business magazines and websites such as http://BudgetBusinessPlans.com, which provides business plan writing services and business plan samples.

How to Successfully Navigate Your Business through an Economic Downturn

How to Successfully Navigate Your Business through an Economic Downturn
by: Terry H Hill

An economic downturn is a phase of the business cycle in which the economy as a whole is in decline.This phase basically marks the end of the period of growth in the business cycle. Economic downturns are characterized by decreased levels of consumer purchases (especially of durable goods) and, subsequently, reduced levels of production by businesses.

While economic downturns are admittedly difficult, and are formidable obstacles to small businesses that are trying to survive and grow, an economic downturn can open up opportunities. A well-managed company can realize the opportunity to gain market share by taking customers away from their competitors. Resourceful entrepreneurs capture the available opportunities, from an economic downturn, by developing alternate methods of doing business that were never implemented during a prior growth period.

The challenge of successfully navigating your business through an economic downturn lies in the realignment of your business with current economic realities. Specifically, you, as the business owner, need to renew a focus on your core clients/customers, reduce your operating expenses, conserve cash, and manage more proactively, rather than reactively, is paramount.

Here are best practices that will help you to successfully navigate your business through an economic downturn:

Goals:

The primary goal of any business owner is to survive the current economic downturn and to develop a leaner, more cost-effective and more efficient operation. The secondary goal is to grow the business even during this current economic downturn.

Objectives:

• Conserve cash.

• Protect assets.

• Reduce costs.

• Improve efficiencies.

• Grow customer base.

Required Action:

• Do not panic… History shows that economic downturns do not last forever. Remain calm and act in a rational manner as you refocus your attention on resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

• Focus on what YOU can control… Don’t let the media's rhetoric concerning recessions and economic slowdown deter you from achieving business success. It´s a trap! Why? Because the condition of the economy is beyond your control. Surviving economic downturns requires a focus on what you can control, i.e. your relevant business activities.

• Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Beware of the pitfall of trying to do too much on your own. It is a difficult task indeed to survive and to grow your business solely with your own efforts. Solicit ideas and seek the help of other people (your employees, suppliers, lenders, customers, and advisors). Communicate honestly and consistently. Effective two-way communication is the key.

• Negotiate, negotiate, and negotiate! The value of a strong negotiation skill set cannot be overstated. Negotiating better deals and contracts is an absolute must for realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions. The key to success is not only knowing how to develop a win-win approach in negotiations with all parties, but also keeping in mind the fact that you want a favorable outcome for yourself too.

Recommended Best Practice Activities:

The Nuts and Bolts… The following list of recommended best practice activities is critical for your business' survival and for its growth during an economic downturn. The actual financial health of your particular business, at the outset of the economic downturn, will dictate the priority and urgency of the implementation of the following best practice activities.

1. Diligently monitor your cash flow: Forecast your cash flow monthly to ensure that expenses and planned expenditures are in line with accounts receivable. Include cash flow statements into your monthly financial reporting. Project cash requirements three-to- six months in advance. The key is to know how to monitor, protect, control, and put cash to work.

2. Carefully convert your inventories: Convert excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory items into cash. Consider returning excess and slow-moving items back to the suppliers. Close-out or inventory reduction sales work well to resize your inventory. Also, consider narrowing your product offerings. Well-timed order placement helps to reduce excess inventory levels and occasional material shortages. The key is to reduce the amount of your inventory without losing sales.

3. Timely collection of your accounts receivable: This asset should be converted to cash as quickly as possible. Offer prompt payment discounts to encourage timely payments. Make changes in the terms of sale for slow paying customers (i.e. changing net 30 day terms to COD). Invoicing is an important part of your cash flow management. The first rule of invoicing is to do it as soon as possible after products are shipped and/or after services are delivered. Place an emphasis on reducing billing errors. Most customers delay payments because an invoice had errors, and therefore, will not pay until they receive a corrected copy. Email or fax your invoices to save on mailing time. Post the payments that you have received and make deposits more frequently. The key is to develop an efficient collection system that generates timely payments and one that gives you advance warning of problems.

4. Re-focus your attention on your existing clients/customers: Make customer satisfaction your priority. A regular review of your customers' buying history and frequency of purchases can reveal some interesting facts about your customers' buying habits. Consider signing long-term contracts with your core clients/customers which will add to your security. Offer a discount for upfront cash payments. The key is to do what it takes to keep your current customers loyal.

5. Re-negotiate with your suppliers, lenders, and landlord:

i) Suppliers: Always keep your negotiations on the level of need, saying that your company has reviewed its cost structure and has determined that it needs to lower supplier costs. . Tell the supplier that you value the relationship you have developed, but that you need to receive a cost reduction immediately. Ask your supplier for a lower material price, a longer payment cycle, and the elimination of finance charges. Also, see if you can buy material from them on a consignment basis. In return for their price concessions, be willing to agree to a long-term contract. Explore the idea of bartering as a form of payment.

ii) Lenders: Everything in business finance is negotiable and your relationship with a bank is no exception. The first step to successful renegotiations is to convince your lenders that you can ultimately pay off the renegotiated loan. You must point out to your lenders why it would be in their best interest to agree to a new arrangement. Showing them your business plan and your action plan that includes your cost-savings initiatives, along with "the how" and "the when" of the implementation of your plan is the best way to achieve this goal. Explain to them that you will need their cooperation to insure that you can survive, as well as, grow your business during the economic downturn. Negotiated items include: the rate of interest, the required security to cover the loan, and the beginning date for repayment. A beginning date for repayment could be immediate, within several months or as long as a year. The key is to realize that your lender will work with you, but that frequent and continual communications with them is critical.

iii) Landlord: Meet with your landlord. Explain your need to have them extend the term of your lease at a reduced cost. Make sure you have a clause in the lease agreement that entitles you to have the right to sublet any or all of the leased space.

6. Re-evaluate your staffing requirements: This is a very critical area. Salaries/wages are a major expense of doing business. Therefore, any reduction in the hours worked through work schedule changes, short-term layoffs or permanent layoffs has an immediate cost saving benefit. Most companies ramped up hiring new employees in the good times, only to find that they are currently overstaffed due to slow sales during the economic downturn. In terms of down-sizing your staff, be very careful not to reduce your staff to a level that forces you to skimp on customer service and quality. Consider the use of part-timers or the current trend of outsourcing certain functions to independent contractors.

7. Shop for better insurances rates: Get quotations from other insurance agents for comparable coverage to determine whether or not your present insurance carrier is competitive. Also, consider revising your coverage to reduce premium costs. The key is to have the right balance-to be adequately insured, but not under or over insured.

8. Re-evaluate your advertising: Contrary to the other cost-cutting initiatives, evaluate the possibility of increasing your advertising expenditures. This tactic realizes the advantage of the reduced "noise" and congestion (fewer advertisers) in the marketplace. The downturn period a great opportunity to increase brand awareness and create additional demand for your product/service offerings.

9. Seek the help of outside advisors: The use of an advisory board comprised of your CPA, attorney, and business consultant offers you objectivity and provides you with professional advice and guidance. Their collective experience in working with similar situations in past economic downturns is invaluable.

10. Review your other expenses: Target an across-the-board cost-cutting initiative of 10-15%. Attempt to eliminate unnecessary expenses. Tightening your belt in order to weather the downturn makes practical, financial sense.

Proactively managing your business through an economic downturn is an enormous challenge and is critical for your survival. However, through well-planned initiatives, an economic downturn can create tremendous opportunity for your company to gain greater market share. In order to take advantage of this growth opportunity, you must act quickly to implement the above best business practices to continue realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions.

Copyright © 2008 Terry H. Hill

You may reprint this article free of charge in your newsletter, magazine, or on your website, provided that the article is unedited, and that the copyright, author's bio, and contact information below appears with each article. Articles appearing on the web must provide a hyperlink to the author's web site, http://www.legacyai.com

Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc, a business consulting and advisory services firm. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. To find out how he can help you take your business to the next level, visit his site at http://www.legacyai.com

To download a copy of this article, click on this link: http://www.legacyai.com/Article_Downturn.html.



About The Author

An author, speaker, and consultant, Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc., a business consulting and advisory services firm based in Sarasota, Florida. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. Terry is the author of the business desk-reference book, How to Jump Start Your Business. He hosts the Business Insights from Legacy Blog at http://blog.legacyai.com and writes a bi-monthly eNewsletter, "Business Insights from Legacy eZine."

By signing up for Business Insights from Legacy eZine at http://tinyurl.com/2t4fxs you can keep abreast of the latest tips, tactics, and best business practices. You will, also, receive the free eBook, Jump Start Your Knowledge of Business.

Contact Terry by email at http://www.legacyai.com or telephone him at 941-556-1299.

How to Successfully Navigate Your Business through an Economic Downturn

An economic downturn is a phase of the business cycle in which the economy as a whole is in decline.This phase basically marks the end of the period of growth in the business cycle. Economic downturns are characterized by decreased levels of consumer purchases (especially of durable goods) and, subsequently, reduced levels of production by businesses. While economic downturns are admittedly difficult, and are formidable obstacles to small businesses that are trying to survive and grow, an economic downturn can open up opportunities. A well-managed company can realize the opportunity to gain market share by taking customers away from their competitors. Resourceful entrepreneurs capture the available opportunities, from an economic downturn, by developing alternate methods of doing business that were never implemented during a prior growth period. The challenge of successfully navigating your business through an economic downturn lies in the realignment of your business with current economic realities. Specifically, you, as the business owner, need to renew a focus on your core clients/customers, reduce your operating expenses, conserve cash, and manage more proactively, rather than reactively, is paramount. Here are best practices that will help you to successfully navigate your business through an economic downturn: Goals: The primary goal of any business owner is to survive the current economic downturn and to develop a leaner, more cost-effective and more efficient operation. The secondary goal is to grow the business even during this current economic downturn. Objectives: • Conserve cash. • Protect assets. • Reduce costs. • Improve efficiencies. • Grow customer base. Required Action: • Do not panic… History shows that economic downturns do not last forever. Remain calm and act in a rational manner as you refocus your attention on resizing your company to the current economic conditions. • Focus on what YOU can control… Don’t let the media's rhetoric concerning recessions and economic slowdown deter you from achieving business success. It´s a trap! Why? Because the condition of the economy is beyond your control. Surviving economic downturns requires a focus on what you can control, i.e. your relevant business activities. • Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Beware of the pitfall of trying to do too much on your own. It is a difficult task indeed to survive and to grow your business solely with your own efforts. Solicit ideas and seek the help of other people (your employees, suppliers, lenders, customers, and advisors). Communicate honestly and consistently. Effective two-way communication is the key. • Negotiate, negotiate, and negotiate! The value of a strong negotiation skill set cannot be overstated. Negotiating better deals and contracts is an absolute must for realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions. The key to success is not only knowing how to develop a win-win approach in negotiations with all parties, but also keeping in mind the fact that you want a favorable outcome for yourself too. Recommended Best Practice Activities: The Nuts and Bolts… The following list of recommended best practice activities is critical for your business' survival and for its growth during an economic downturn. The actual financial health of your particular business, at the outset of the economic downturn, will dictate the priority and urgency of the implementation of the following best practice activities. 1. Diligently monitor your cash flow: Forecast your cash flow monthly to ensure that expenses and planned expenditures are in line with accounts receivable. Include cash flow statements into your monthly financial reporting. Project cash requirements three-to- six months in advance. The key is to know how to monitor, protect, control, and put cash to work. 2. Carefully convert your inventories: Convert excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory items into cash. Consider returning excess and slow-moving items back to the suppliers. Close-out or inventory reduction sales work well to resize your inventory. Also, consider narrowing your product offerings. Well-timed order placement helps to reduce excess inventory levels and occasional material shortages. The key is to reduce the amount of your inventory without losing sales. 3. Timely collection of your accounts receivable: This asset should be converted to cash as quickly as possible. Offer prompt payment discounts to encourage timely payments. Make changes in the terms of sale for slow paying customers (i.e. changing net 30 day terms to COD). Invoicing is an important part of your cash flow management. The first rule of invoicing is to do it as soon as possible after products are shipped and/or after services are delivered. Place an emphasis on reducing billing errors. Most customers delay payments because an invoice had errors, and therefore, will not pay until they receive a corrected copy. Email or fax your invoices to save on mailing time. Post the payments that you have received and make deposits more frequently. The key is to develop an efficient collection system that generates timely payments and one that gives you advance warning of problems. 4. Re-focus your attention on your existing clients/customers: Make customer satisfaction your priority. A regular review of your customers' buying history and frequency of purchases can reveal some interesting facts about your customers' buying habits. Consider signing long-term contracts with your core clients/customers which will add to your security. Offer a discount for upfront cash payments. The key is to do what it takes to keep your current customers loyal. 5. Re-negotiate with your suppliers, lenders, and landlord: i) Suppliers: Always keep your negotiations on the level of need, saying that your company has reviewed its cost structure and has determined that it needs to lower supplier costs. . Tell the supplier that you value the relationship you have developed, but that you need to receive a cost reduction immediately. Ask your supplier for a lower material price, a longer payment cycle, and the elimination of finance charges. Also, see if you can buy material from them on a consignment basis. In return for their price concessions, be willing to agree to a long-term contract. Explore the idea of bartering as a form of payment. ii) Lenders: Everything in business finance is negotiable and your relationship with a bank is no exception. The first step to successful renegotiations is to convince your lenders that you can ultimately pay off the renegotiated loan. You must point out to your lenders why it would be in their best interest to agree to a new arrangement. Showing them your business plan and your action plan that includes your cost-savings initiatives, along with "the how" and "the when" of the implementation of your plan is the best way to achieve this goal. Explain to them that you will need their cooperation to insure that you can survive, as well as, grow your business during the economic downturn. Negotiated items include: the rate of interest, the required security to cover the loan, and the beginning date for repayment. A beginning date for repayment could be immediate, within several months or as long as a year. The key is to realize that your lender will work with you, but that frequent and continual communications with them is critical. iii) Landlord: Meet with your landlord. Explain your need to have them extend the term of your lease at a reduced cost. Make sure you have a clause in the lease agreement that entitles you to have the right to sublet any or all of the leased space. 6. Re-evaluate your staffing requirements: This is a very critical area. Salaries/wages are a major expense of doing business. Therefore, any reduction in the hours worked through work schedule changes, short-term layoffs or permanent layoffs has an immediate cost saving benefit. Most companies ramped up hiring new employees in the good times, only to find that they are currently overstaffed due to slow sales during the economic downturn. In terms of down-sizing your staff, be very careful not to reduce your staff to a level that forces you to skimp on customer service and quality. Consider the use of part-timers or the current trend of outsourcing certain functions to independent contractors. 7. Shop for better insurances rates: Get quotations from other insurance agents for comparable coverage to determine whether or not your present insurance carrier is competitive. Also, consider revising your coverage to reduce premium costs. The key is to have the right balance-to be adequately insured, but not under or over insured. 8. Re-evaluate your advertising: Contrary to the other cost-cutting initiatives, evaluate the possibility of increasing your advertising expenditures. This tactic realizes the advantage of the reduced "noise" and congestion (fewer advertisers) in the marketplace. The downturn period a great opportunity to increase brand awareness and create additional demand for your product/service offerings. 9. Seek the help of outside advisors: The use of an advisory board comprised of your CPA, attorney, and business consultant offers you objectivity and provides you with professional advice and guidance. Their collective experience in working with similar situations in past economic downturns is invaluable. 10. Review your other expenses: Target an across-the-board cost-cutting initiative of 10-15%. Attempt to eliminate unnecessary expenses. Tightening your belt in order to weather the downturn makes practical, financial sense. Proactively managing your business through an economic downturn is an enormous challenge and is critical for your survival. However, through well-planned initiatives, an economic downturn can create tremendous opportunity for your company to gain greater market share. In order to take advantage of this growth opportunity, you must act quickly to implement the above best business practices to continue realigning and resizing your company to the current economic conditions. Copyright © 2008 Terry H. Hill You may reprint this article free of charge in your newsletter, magazine, or on your website, provided that the article is unedited, and that the copyright, author's bio, and contact information below appears with each article. Articles appearing on the web must provide a hyperlink to the author's web site, http://www.legacyai.com Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc, a business consulting and advisory services firm. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. To find out how he can help you take your business to the next level, visit his site at http://www.legacyai.com To download a copy of this article, click on this link: http://www.legacyai.com/Article_Downturn.html.
About The Author
An author, speaker, and consultant, Terry H. Hill is the founder and managing partner of Legacy Associates, Inc., a business consulting and advisory services firm based in Sarasota, Florida. A veteran chief executive, Terry works directly with business owners of privately held companies on the issues and challenges that they face in each stage of their business life cycle. Terry is the author of the business desk-reference book, How to Jump Start Your Business. He hosts the Business Insights from Legacy Blog at http://blog.legacyai.com and writes a bi-monthly eNewsletter, "Business Insights from Legacy eZine." By signing up for Business Insights from Legacy eZine at http://tinyurl.com/2t4fxs you can keep abreast of the latest tips, tactics, and best business practices. You will, also, receive the free eBook, Jump Start Your Knowledge of Business. Contact Terry by email at http://www.legacyai.com or telephone him at 941-556-1299.

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