There are many reasons why people get into debt - some of them self inflicted and some of them way outside of our control. Losing a job, illness or accidents, all of these can suddenly plunge one into unexpected expenditure, and often the only way to deal with the emergency is to use debt. There is a tendency, however, to keep on borrowing once you start. This is because the process becomes so easy - credit card companies and banks seem keen to...more
Your business is successful, but now your ready to take it to the next level and begin accepting credit card transactions, or you have already taken this step but your feeling that your merchant account provider has high fees and your not sure what to do, or what other providers are out there? You can save hundred's even thousand's of dollars per year by switching over to a new merchant. How is this so? Just in transaction fees alone if one...more
You do your best to make sure your organization is operating as effectively as possible. But if your policies and procedures are incomplete, outdated, or inconsistent, then they are not driving the performance improvement they should. When employees try to use incomplete or undefined procedures, waste and costly errors soon follow.Case Study: Little Mistakes Add Up QuicklyWithout knowing it, employees at a local auto parts company were having a costly problem determining when to accept customer credit. The company actually had a detailed credit application procedure, including an exhaustive error correction routine, but the procedure had one fatal flaw: it was not properly indexed.Indexing Improves UsabilityWithout a way to readily locate and reference the applicable procedure in the operations manual, employees could not find it and were simply not using it at all, leading to an inconsistent process and wildly varying output. Potentially valuable customers were regularly turned away by some staff members, while others accepted bad credit risks because they were unsure of which ones to reject.A small omission like this can add up to thousands of dollars in lost sales and good will....more
These days, people need to very carefully consider what type of credit card they will carry in their wallets. There are so many options out there, and each individual has different needs. Some of us tend to carry a balance, so we need a low interest credit card. Others pay off their card each month and so don't pay any interest. They are more...more
Here's a newsflash: Cover letters work, plain and simple. This is why I'm intrigued by the fact that a) jobseekers rarely submit them and b) hiring managers seldom read them. As a result, I started asking questions. Specifically, "What's your problem with cover letters?" Here's what I found out.Jobseekers claim all the pertinent information is...more
Are you frustrated by the lack of growth in your firm, or the effort required to squeeze any up-tick in performance? Are inadequate policies and procedures a root cause? To find out, take this simple self assessment to see if this may be inhibiting real growth at your company.Q. Can you take an extended vacation without the company falling apart? A. If you answered "no" then you have a job and not a business. A business must have a system of standard operating procedures to ensure the work gets done correctly, even in your absence. Q. Can your company handle a ramp-up in sales and production?A. Hidden inefficiencies are often revealed when sales and production increase. If low turns on accounts receivable and inventory, long sales or production cycles starve your cash flow, then something is wrong. Your policies and procedures should document cycle times for your critical operating metrics.Q. Can you effectively add more people to your organization?A. Hiring people is simple compared to ensuring they know what to do and have the resources to accomplish their job. Policies and procedures provide the framework for a management system to oversee new employees and communicate who does...more
A common remedy for improving your time management is to develop the ability of saying, "NO." Since it is easier to recommend than to do, here are some tips on how to do it.1. Start with your own attitude. What is your self perception when you say,...more
Introducing new products or services, bringing new people on board, developing a new process or procedure, installing new equipment, change seems to be the one constant in business today and change always seems to drive a need for training. In...more
Consumer BorrowingConsumer borrowing in the UK has now crashed through the £1 trillion barrier. 80% of this is due to credit card borrowing, loans and mortgages. How are people managing to handle their debt and what effect is debt having on...more
What's REALLY potent for a business, non-profit or association manager is public relations' ability to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors. And then, to persuade those key outside folks to the manager's way of thinking, and help...more
Day after day my in box, and I'm sure yours as well, fills with opportunity propaganda on how to make money. Do this, and poof, you're rich. Become an affiliate and sell my ebook, and poof, you're making lots of money. I don't know about you, but I...more
We must first emphasize that here we are talking about outsourcing CAD projects, which is significantly easier than outsourcing software development or IT services (earlier articles of mine have explained why).This article also assumes that selection...more