You have this burning desire you want to be on your own. The temptation is so great that you want to quit your job. Enough is enough. You're sick of working for other people for a ridiculous pay.To be your own boss means controlling your own destiny, having your own time and no bosses to report to. Basically, you can do whatever you want.But before you really jump into a new territory of being on your own, you have to make sure that you're ready...more
When I ask why you don't start your own business, I always hear, "I don't have money to start a business." This is a common excuse people give for not starting their own business.There is truth in the statement. You actually need money to make money or to start a business. But the question is "Do you need a lot of money or little to start a business?" and "Whose money do you use?"Yes, I admit that it does take money to make money but it doesn't...more
Which is more painful: an audit or spending the holidays with Aunt Sally and her green Jell-O mold? Either way, your company audit still looms in your mind, but it shouldn't be that scary - quite the opposite. Besides, even Sally "audits" herself when she makes her mold, as she tests for thickness and taste. She just wants to improve.Fix the ProblemSo what are you going to do about your company audit? How about make an educated guess what the problem is, assign someone to "fix" it, and sit back and relaxÂ…for another month or so? This is just another short-term solution.Tackle the Audit Head OnInstead, why not tackle the audit head on, and kick its butt. A strange way to put it, maybe, but that's how I see an audit after attending an Internal Auditor Skills Class. Don't get me wrong, I still like managing by my own glorious opinion. But it got me thinking that maybe the attitude of "just the facts, ma'am" holds more water (and less hot air).Close System GapsWith role playing and actually writing up my own audit plans and reports, I got to see why unarguable evidence is so crucial to improving and even closing the gaps in a company's system. It becomes such a different world when...more
For organisations to stay competitive, they must be willing to share knowledge with the public because the digital revolution has enabled information to move beyond geographical boundaries. The new rule of corporate survival is not just the ownership of knowledge; it also means that the conscious effort to modify and "self-destroy" it. With this in...more
How do you set up shop online? How about one that's top-notch, so that you can compete with the big guys, yet quick to set up, easy to maintain - - and cheap? And how can you affordably market your shop once it's ready to go? Questions like these are often brought to the attention of OhioHelp.net, an Ohio-based company specializing in helping...more
Rod McHenry, the financial vice president of a document imaging company, thought he had great cause for celebrating. He had signed an unbelievable $370,000 lease proposal covering computer servers, workstations, software and other networking equipment. McHenry believed he had snared an incredible lease rate, capping off weeks of negotiating an acceptable equipment price with the equipment vendor. The proposal guaranteed a lease closing and offered a return of the 2% 'commitment fee' paid by McHenry's company if the leasing company failed to give credit approval within two weeks. Little did McHenry know that signing this proposal would lead his company into the 'Twilight Zone' of equipment leasing. Ultimately, his firm would fork out more than $15,000 in legal fees seeking lessor performance, only to learn that the lessor was already insolvent and mired in several similar lawsuits.Like McHenry's employer, thousands of U.S. companies lease equipment each year, many of them without careful attention to potential blunders. Rod McHenry became victim to one possible pitfall, but there are several areas deserving careful attention.Falling For the Lowest RateOne potential pot-hole facing...more
A lottery wheeling system means you choose a base 'subset' of numbers, for example in a 6 number lottery, you might choose the numbers 1 to 7, and then combine them in ways ensuring that all 7 numbers 'get a go' in the 6 number lines. By playing...more
You are getting a good deal when you accept the fact that the right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead to the changed behaviors you need. Especially when you recognize that people really DO act upon their perceptions of the facts they...more
There is an old statement that holds true when trying to restore your credit rating, and the statement is "knowing is half the battle." This statement exemplifies what consumers who have had past credit problems should do, and that is to learn...more
Setting financial goals is the single most important thing you can do to take control of your finances. Your life can't go according to plan if you don't have a plan. You will continue to spend every penny you earn if you don't plan for where you...more
I decided to resurrect this article (with some changes due to events that have happened this year) from my website because of the time of year it is. With New Year's Day being less than a week away, this is the time of year where many of us reflect...more
If someone offered to give you a loan for $2100 at interest rates of up to 222 percent you'd probably laugh at them and walk away; but, this spring, 1 in 10 Americans will do just that: for the privilege of borrowing their own money, over 12 million...more