The transitional period of returning to work after a prolonged period of sickness absence can be daunting for the employee AND their line manager - especially where the ill health revolved around a 'stress at work' issue. Coming to terms with changes that have taken place during the employee's absence and re-establishing team working practices will take effort and commitment from the manager and employee alike. Supportive and proactive...more
In Part One of this article series, I described the current situation with how customers are feeling vulnerable: Now more than ever, your customers are being bombarded by competitive offers and even some of your most loyal customers are actually listening to your competitors.Your customers are vulnerable. What can you do about it?First, you have to understand, "Who are your best customers and those that you can't afford to lose?"Most every...more
Businesses arise when entrepreneurs identify wants or needs and create products or services to fill them. This means doing ongoing market research. Here are some of the free research tools that are easily accessible on the internet, and which are certain to make your market research easy, fast and fruitful.Search Engines: Search engines index billions of web pages, enabling users to find information through keyword searches. My favourites are google.com and clusty.com.About: Visit about.com to explore this amazing website, which offers articles by more than 750 experts on a range of subjects. It's useful for finding information on different topics and has a handy "See What's Hot Now" link where you can learn which questions and topics are getting the most hits.Blogs: These are personal journals published on the Web. Blogs include personal reflections, opinions on a variety of issues, and usually include links to the owner's favorite sites.BoardReader: This remarkable service reads forums and message boards from more than 750,000 websites. Just click on boardreader.com and enter your search words to find information, images or videos from many sources.Ebay Keywords: Click on...more
As a lender, I wish we could approve every loan application that hit our table; unfortunately it's not possible. We deal with mostly very small businesses seeking small loans, usually less than $250,000. Lending to inexperienced, new business owners is one of the riskiest arenas for a lending agency. Still, we manage to keep our losses to a...more
A leveraged buyout (LBO) occurs when a financial sponsor gains a controlling interest in a firm's equity and where a major % (percentage) of the buying value is financed through borrowing. The possessions of the obtained firm are often used as collateral for the borrowed money, sometimes with assets of the acquiring company. The bonds issued for...more
With each day's headlines announcing new corporate layoffs, rising unemployment rates, and an increasingly volatile stock market, it may seem counterintuitive for businesses to place much, if any, importance on hiring new employees. However, for companies with the foresight and optimism to think beyond the recession, there are a number of great reasons to take advantage of the current economic climate by putting an increased emphasis on strategic hiring. In fact, companies who do so may be improving their odds of not only surviving the economic downturn, but emerging from it stronger, more productive, and better-positioned for long-term success.Hiring While the Others are FiringThe obvious reason to consider hiring in the current economic climate is simple: great candidates are in high supply. Widespread layoffs have created a huge pool of prospective employees, many of whom have years of experience and expertise to offer. These days, employers have a unique advantage in being able to select from a wider pool of talent at a significantly lower cost, yet many fail to take advantage of this opportunity by thinking short-term about their staffing needs. According to research in the...more
Early in my career, I was fortunate enough to cross paths with a company that understood the value of smart, effective women. While their counterparts in the natural gas industry were still relegating us to waitress positions at Hooters, this outfit...more
Superannuation is a method of financially preparing yourself for your retirement. Both yourself and your employer can contribute to it over time and this money is then invested into a variety of appropriate investments such as shares, property,...more
There are a variety of low cost international long distance calling products on the market today but each has been designed to fit the needs of a specific group of consumers. Marketers and product developers have tried to broaden the appeal of their...more
The first year after my wife and I were married was a financial disaster. We were living paycheck to paycheck and not seeing a solution in sight. A friend and mentor suggested we try living on a cash budget. He could tell by the confused look on my...more
Maryland investment property is definitely something to consider, especially in light of the recent state of foreclosures. While foreclosures are bad news for the seller, they can be really good news for people looking to make a new and lucrative...more
Real estate has always been a business full of powerful personalities. But can one person ¬create - or recreate - an entire luxury property market? Looking at the cases of Marbella, Belgravia, Bel Air and Monaco, it would seem so.Marbella and Prince...more