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.

Personnel Loan: Best Of Finances At The Best Of Terms

Every individual has the right to fulfill their dreams and various wishes. These wishes and dreams depend a lot on the availability of finances. If you are a service personnel looking for finances to fulfill some of the needs and desires, you can opt for personnel loan. This loan is specially crafted to meet your very demands at the best possible terms and conditions.

The amount obtained under this loan can be used to meet expenses on home renovation, purchasing your dream bike or car, meeting wedding expenses, paying college admission fees, going for a vacation or paying off all the existing debts to improve the credit score. This loan offers the necessary finances to take care of all your needs and wishes.

To make it more convenient and easy, lenders offer this loan in secured and unsecured form. The secured from of the loan can be availed if the borrower is ready to attach any valuable property such as residence, real estate etc as collateral. Lenders approve the amount on the basis of equity value of collateral. It means if you are placing collateral of high equity, you will be able to obtain a bigger amount. This loan option has larger repayment duration. The interest rates too are low as the amount is secured against an asset.

On the other hand, unsecured option of personnel loan does not have the clause of attaching any collateral. Instead of collateral, the amount is advanced on the basis of your income proof, employment status, bank statements etc. The amount is very limited and has short repayment duration. Without any collateral, the interest rates offered are slightly higher.

Bad credit individuals can also apply for this loan. However the interest rate offered will be slightly higher.

This loan can is easily accessible and can be sourced from lenders like banks and financial institutions. However to avail this loan at the cheapest possible rates instantly, it is preferable to use the online mode.

Personnel loan offers the best of finances to borrowers with the best of terms. This loan helps you to fulfill the various dreams and wishes without any financial constraint.

Critique Your Resume

You have written your resume. To your untrained eye, it looks pretty good to you. So you are ready to send it out. Unfortunately, a successful resume isn’t dependent on whether or not you like it, but on the opinion of hiring managers. As a result, you have to look at your resume from an employer’s perspective.

Let’s take a look at the common subheadings of a resume and explore what employers like to see. Based on the information provided, self-score your existing resume.

· Heading: The heading of your resume should include your name, contact information (address, phone numbers, email address). Follow these tips to ensure that your heading is following proper resume protocol: (1) avoid providing your work number. Potential interviewers may interpret the inclusion of a work number as a lack of loyalty on your part since you are job hunting on your current employer’s dime. (2) Don’t include your home phone number if young children and/or non-English speaking family members tend to pick up the phone. Instead use your cell phone. If you don’t own a cell phone, then kindly asks residents in your household to let the home phone go directly to voicemail (3) when you are searching for a job, don’t pick up your cell phone in places where you are not able to talk, such as on a train or in the middle of lunch meeting. If you don’t know who is calling, let your cell phone go to voice mail.

Critique: Does the heading of your resume include your full name, address, professional sounding email, and a contact number? ___ Yes ___No

· Objective/Profile Statement: Your profile statement should provide a summary of the skills, knowledge, and abilities you feel are most important to the position you are seeking. This means that if you have more than one career interest, then you will need to adapt your profile for each interest.

Here’s a sample of an effective profile statement.

Strong, diverse background in accounting, bookkeeping, and auditing within various environments, leveraging analytical and problem solving skills to achieve positive results. Excel in managing multiple financial/accounting/HR activities concurrently. Uphold highest level of professional and personal ethics; well-versed in regulatory requirements. Proficient in use of technology to support top-priority business goals, including Excel, QuickBooks, and Intuit’s Enterprise Solutions software.

Critique: Does your resume go beyond the usual seeking-an- opportunity-to-grow type of statements? Have you taken the time to delve into what you can offer an organization? ___ Yes ___No

· Professional History: Your professional history must be packed with accomplishments. Each profession has different standards as to what constitutes accomplishments. For example, an accomplishment for a teacher may be the ability to create curriculum that is suitable for all learning styles. On the other hand, an accomplishment for an administrative assistant can be the streamlining of files that allows for accessibility.

Many job seekers are under the impression that accomplishments have to contain numbers. This is not the case as noted by the examples in the previous paragraph. A gauge you can use as to whether something is an accomplishment or not is this: are you proud of the said activity? Did the activity win praise from others?

Critique: Does each position have at least three noticeable accomplishments? Note: the number of accomplishments varies from individual to individual. Use the number three as a realistic gauge. ___ Yes ___No

· Format: If you are using a Microsoft Word template, scratch it. Interviewers are used to seeing those formats again and again. Be creative and create a format that suites your specific goals and work history. In addition, if you have used a resume template before, you can attest to the fact that you have no creative control. Depending on the template, you may not even be permitted to add extra bullets statements, if necessary. You are subject to the template layout and can’t veer away from the design because if you do, you run the risk of a formatting disaster on your hands.

Critique: Does your format highlight your accomplishments by being original? ___ Yes ___No

· Font face and size: Don’t use a small font face and size just to keep the resume a one-pager. It will make it difficult for the decision maker to read small lettering. Please understand that resumes don’t have to be one page. If your resume needs to be longer to include all the relevant information that is fine. Hiring managers expect resumes to run up to three pages. Choose a font size that is easy on the eye.

Critique: Does your resume have an easy to read font face and size? ___ Yes ___No

· Action oriented sentence starters: Your resume should never include the words “I” or “we.” For example, instead of writing I implemented, begin the sentence with Implemented. Here is a list of action words you can use in your resume. They are split into categories for easy use.

Management action words: analyzed, coordinated, delegated, executed, incorporated, motivated, and oversaw.

Communication action words: addressed, authored, persuaded, summarized, renegotiated, reported and wrote

Creative action words: conceived, conceptualized, created, designed, developed and produced.

Detail-oriented action words: approved, compiled, edited, inspected gathered, and proofread.

Critique: Does each sentence of your resume begin with an action word? ___ Yes ___No

You know when your resume is ready to be submitted when you score one hundred percent on the evaluation above. Good luck!

5 Things You Must Do To Fail in Business

There are more books about succeeding in business then curse words on MTV. It is not easy to define what makes a business succeed, but it is easy to describe what makes a business fail. If you are starting your business or currently being miserably unsuccessful, you might want to read on.

No doubt that most entrepreneurs want to succeed in business and I wont argue that failing is on the top of the do list for anyone. Here are five things you must do to fail in business.

1 You must want to become an overnight success. Isn’t it great to hear about some new product becoming an instant hit? Realistically, most overnight success stories take a lot more than one night of work. Think of any popular brand and think how long it took to create it. Even though things can happen quickly online, it takes a lot of testing and trying of what works for your business.

2 You must do it all alone. It takes a team effort to make any business successful. Even if you are the only member of your business, be ready to listen to what others have to say, and keep an open mind.

3 You must be convinced there is nothing new to learn. Even if you are an expert in your area, you will find that succeeding means learning. It is impossible to grow your business without a commitment to learning and improving your skills.

4 If you think you have to be the cheapest to be the successful, you might be surprised. Price is not the only factor when it comes to making an online purchase. Actually, pricing a product at the right price is an art form. The right price is more important than the lowest price.

5 Never forgive yourself for failing. Even the greatest business will have its ups-and-downs. You are going to have difficulties, and you are going to be making mistakes. It is OK to make mistakes. It is not OK, however, to keep repeating the same mistakes. The biggest difference between successful businesses and failed businesses is that successful businesses will learn from their mistakes and use it for improving.

Remember to do the above if you must fail in business.

The Basics Of Loan Payment Protection

Not understanding loan payment protection is the number one fault associated with mis-selling. Providing cover is suitable then taking out a policy to cover your loan repayments can save you from getting into debt and give you peace of mind and the security of an income each month. This income is used to cover your loan or credit card repayments and is tax free.

Loan insurance premiums can vary a lot and the cheapest way to take out a policy is to go with a standalone specialist provider. By choosing to buy cover after taking out the loan you will not feel as though you are getting pushed into the cover and you will be able to take your time going over the terms and conditions. An independent provider will always make this information available.

A policy could start to pay out if the policy holder was out of work due to an accident or illness, or through unemployment such as redundancy. The policy holder waits a period of time before receiving a payout, which usually comes 30 to 90 days after being out of work continually. The policy pays out a tax-free income for up to 12 months, or for up to 24 months with some providers, which is usually enough time to recover and get back to work.

You do have to make sure that a policy would be suitable for your circumstances before you buy. This is due to there being terms and conditions that can stop you from claiming. The exclusions most regularly found include being retired or self-employed, suffering an illness or only working on a part-time basis. But these exclusions are not set in stone; for example, providing the illness has not occurred within the last two years then cover might be suitable.

Beware of borrowing online and if you do pay attention to whether loan protection cover is already included. Online lenders have in the past included loan protection as standard unless a box is un-ticked. While the majority of lenders have now put an end to this to avoid confusion, it is worthwhile double checking. The same goes when taking out a loan with the high street lenders, because they have also been known to add in the cover and then add interest onto the total amount. This, of course, can almost double the cost of what was a cheap loan and is the most expensive way of purchasing peace of mind.

When buying a protection policy for your loan make sure you know whether you will pay a single premium or regular one. If you pay a single premium then lenders will charge around three years’ premiums upfront, which you are expected to pay in one lump sum. You also need to pay attention to any clauses relating to early repayment of the loan. Always check to make sure what you would be able to claim back if you should take the loan out then find out you can afford to repay it early.

While loan payment protection can work and give you a much needed income it does only pay out for a maximum amount of time. While in the majority of cases the individual will return to work within this period, occasionally they remain unable to work for a longer period. Therefore, you must consider how you would be able to maintain the repayments if you should remain off work once the cover stopped providing an income.

Powerful Words in Sales

I’d like to discuss the most powerful words you can use during the selling process.

After all Rudyard Kipling said, “Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind.”

Plainly, THE MOST POWERFUL WORD is YOU. You should be looking to use the word You in your sales meetings a lot more than you use the word I. As I’ve mentioned before the idea is to be focused on your client’s needs but I’m sure this is restating what you already know.

I want to discuss words that you can use in your speech that will make your language more effective at controlling the thoughts of your prospect.

OK, let’s assume you have established Rapport with your customer or prospect and you have identified a problem they have where a product you offer could be useful to them.

The idea then, at this point in the sale, is to control the internal representations that your customer is making in their head. What I’m about to offer is a linguistic pattern that focuses your client’s mind where you want it to focus and just about forces them to accept your concepts and ideas as true. Now, STOP … and just image how useful it would be if you could easily do that.

The Power Words are:

Naturally
Easily
Unlimited

Aware
Realise
Experience

Before
During
After

Among
Expand
Beyond

And
As
Causes
Because

Now
Stop

Now you may be thinking what’s so special about these words?

Well, they become much more powerful if you follow the rule below.

Rule: Always put adverbs before the verb and adjectives before the noun!

(Truthfully, the words above are only examples of the types of words you can use and I have produced this abridged list merely to help you focus on the learning task at hand, i.e. how to incorporate these words into your sales language. Once you have done that you’ll find that you just naturally start to use other similar words in your speech.)

So let me go straight into some examples of how to use these words to good effect.

Have you ever found yourself saying?
“Could you make the change from your current supplier to us?”
Well, that is just a question and your prospect could just as easily say “No! I can’t”

What about,
“How could you make the change from your current supplier to us?”
Now, that is focusing your client on what you want them to be thinking about (i.e. how they could change to using your product or service) but you’re leaving a door open for them to say that they don’t know how.

What about the sentence below?
“How easily could you make the change from your current supplier to us?”
Now where is your customer’s mind focused?
Not on whether they could make the change, nor on how they could do it, but on how easy it could be. They could still say “it would not be very easy” but notice that they are still likely to use the word “easy”

Also, notice that I did not say,
“How could you make the change from your current supplier to us easily?”
Because, the first thing that would enter your client’s mind is how they could make the change and they would already be considering the answer to this question before they ever heard the word easily (if they heard it at all).

It’s subtle and it has a profound effect.

Let me give you some more examples of sentences using these words.

“Have you discovered how easily you could make a consistent product if you used our improved raw material?”

“Naturally, you’ll find more than enough reasons to go ahead today even if you can only see a few of the unlimited benefits that our product provides.”

These “power words” become even more powerful when you stack them into a sentence. The more of these words you use in a sentence the harder it is for your prospect’s conscious mind to filter out the inferences these words are forcing them to make.

“Once you begin to easily absorb this information, you’ll naturally discover the unlimited potential it has for readily making your communication infinitely more effective.” (Perhaps this sentences is a bit over-the-top?)

“Have you become aware yet of the many ways that our product could help in your production?” (The inference being there are many benefits and you will become aware of them at some point in time.)

“After you experience our product , by trailing it in your plant, you will realize the many ways in which it will easily improve your end product” ( infers you’ll try the product and there are many ways this product can benefit your production )

Here are some more examples for you.

”Naturally, as you start to realize the unlimited ways you can easily become aware of how using our product will help you to rapidly and effectively accomplish your goals, you’ll start imagining the success you can really achieve with our help” ( Phew ! )

“After you use our product you’ll understand it’s many benefits” (the inferences being that they will use the product and it has more than one benefit)

“Before you decide which of the many benefits that our product offers is the most important in relation to your purchasing decision let me tell you a few things that might help.” (The inferences are that they will decide on a benefit that is important to them and that our product offers many benefits.)

“During the first few months of experiencing our service you’ll likely become more aware of the many ways in which we offer substantially more than our competitors.” ( The inference being that they will use the service and it is more than a little better than the competitors in a number of ways.)

Before I go any further how much of this have you grasped, so far? Can you see how this will naturally make your communication more vital and alive and can you guess how much more effective your communication will become once you have mastered the use of these words. Does this sound like something you need to practice?

“From among the many positive benefits that you are starting to realize our service offers, which ones are likely to give you the most benefit? ”

“As you expand the range of products you buy from us and our business collaboration moves beyond it’s current boundaries what do you see as the best way we can easily move forward to the next level?”

I already discussed the power of the word “because” in YourSalesSuccess edition #2, so I wont go through it again.

The word ”cause” can function much like ”because” in many situations. Along with “As” and “And ” they are example of “cause and effect statements”. Here are some examples.

“Simply making that statement causes you to understand why you already don’t believe it.” (Every time they make that statement they’ll doubt it.)

“As you start to assimilate the information we have provided you will begin to recognize the many ways that our product can help in your process.”

The last two words on our list “Now ” and “Stop” are really commands that can be used to great effect. These words work better if you speak them louder and in a deeper voice tone. It also helps to actually stop speaking when you utter the word “Stop”. Like below. (Emphasise the words in bold.)

“You may be considering the effort you need to switch to our product. May I suggest that you just STOP… NOW consider the many advantages our product will easily bring to your production process and all the positive effects that will have on your bottom line.”

“We’ve been back and forth a lot with this agreement and perhaps it’s time-- NOW – to consider how we can most easily finalise this deal to our mutual benefit. Now, that seems reasonable, doesn’t it ?”

How do you go about talking like this and utilizing these powerful words?

You practice by writing out sentences employing these words.

Here’s how to practice.
First, think about a specific sales call you have coming up.
Then think about some of the comments you are likely to make during that meeting.
(Use your imagination and run through the meeting in your mind.)
Write down the things you would say.
Now, rewrite the sentences inserting the powerful words.
You’ll notice the power words are grouped in the list above. Take one group at a time and try to incorporate the power words into the sentences you would have spoken.
(This may seem clumsy at first like the process you went through acquiring many new skills in the past and wasn’t that momentary discomfort back then well worth the eventual progress you made?)
Don’t add the words in, actually rewrite the sentence.
Write up to a page on each group.
Then rewrite the sentences again allowing you the freedom to use any of the power words in any of the sentences. Really pack them in!

Repeat this process for one sales call a day or just do the exercise once a day for a month and you’ll likely notice how naturally and easily you can speak using the power words.

You may have been wondering where this issue was heading. How useful these words would be. And, as you consider just that, you may find yourself just naturally beginning to experience excitement about what the future holds for you as you begin to understand how easily you can incorporate these words into your sales language, allowing you to enhance your sales results and move beyond the past sales limitations you had before you mastered the skill of using language to direct the thinking of your customer. Now, as the realization begins to sink in of how easily and rapidly your sales results will improve, that will cause you get excited about practicing the use of the power words. Now…

Make Sure Payment Protection Insurance Is Right For You Before You Buy

While payment protection insurance can be a valuable asset if you have loan or credit card repayments to make each month, it is not suitable for everyone. Some individuals would not benefit from taking out the cover because of the exclusions found in a policy.

The majority of payment protection policies have exclusions. Being in part-time employment, suffering from a pre-existing illness, or being retired or self-employed could all mean cover is not suitable. Providers can also add in other exclusions to the small print and reading the key facts of a policy is a necessity. If you shop with a specialist provider for your cover then the provider should give you all the facts you need to know before you buy. This means you can ensure that the product is right for your circumstances.

A payment protection plan pays out a tax-free sum of money each month after you have been out of work for a set period of time. The start date for payment varies from provider to provider but is normally within 30 to 90 days of being unable to attend your job. This could be due to suffering an accident, being ill or finding yourself unemployed through no fault of your own. Redundancy, for example, is one reason you could claim.

Once the policy holder has started to receive an income then they continue to do so for between 12 and 24 months, again depending on the provider. This means they have to worry less about being able to afford financial commitments or credit card or loan repayments.

When taking out a loan from the high street lender payment protection is usually offered at the time of borrowing. In the majority of cases this is not the ideal way to buy protection. High street lenders are known to charge high premiums for the luxury of having peace of mind. Even worse, in some cases they ‘push’ cover alongside the borrowing to those who would not be eligible for a pay-out should they make a claim.

When an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading revealed that mis-selling of payment protection products was rife among high street lenders, people lost faith in the product. The Office of Fair Trading highlighted the fact that lenders were not making it clear that people could shop around for a policy. Some lenders were misleading the consumer into believing that the application for the loan depended on them taking out a policy. At the same time, the lenders often give out very little information, which made understanding and comparing cover almost impossible.

Payment protection insurance taken with a standalone specialist provider removes the confusion associated with a policy. Providers do this by giving the facts in plain English. A specialist will also provide a quality product that can save you as much as 80% in comparison to the high-end quotes offered by some high street lenders. It is essential when comparing protection that you also compare the key facts because this is where you will find vital information regarding the cover you are taking out.

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!

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

Managing Your Business When One Client Takes Alot of Your Time

How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack because of a client’s needs?

I try to live by the 80/20 rule: working from my home office 80% of the time and working onsite with clients 20% of the time. But, the past week has been the exact opposite.

I had a demanding onsite project. I had to drive halfway across town and give up my weekend to help my client meet their deadline. Yeah, I know. It’s time to get me some cheese to go with my whine.

You could think of this as “drowning in success”. It’s an interesting image. You’re surrounded by good fortune – your clients need you, you’re doing rewarding work, and, of course, you’re getting paid. But, at the same time, you feel like you’re drowning. You’re so focused on how you’re going to get through this stretch that it’s easy to lose sight of your larger business goals.

When this happens, I have to put my situation in perspective. The following are 4 steps that help me to see the bigger picture.

Discuss your upcoming schedule with your business partner(s) and/or family members. You may have to reallocate some business or household responsibilities. Your business partner can continue to focus on marketing, searching for clients, and getting the word out. Your family can chip in by covering some of your chores. Brett and I are great about continuing to keep the business and household afloat when one of us gets too busy.

Be thankful for your current “problem”. Acknowledge how busy you are right now. Then, think about what it’s like when you’re struggling to find clients. I know which “problem” I prefer.

Give yourself permission to relax. Sometimes when you’re spending that much time on one client, you feel guilty about the other things you haven’t had time to do. But, instead, set aside time to do something mindless. My guilty pleasure is my free money online poker game.

Leverage your current project.

Write a press release about the client you’re working with. For added punch, include a quote from your client. It’s a win-win.

Write a case study based on the work you did. You could include this with your marketing materials. Or, you could turn it into an article and submit to an industry magazine.